Game Over
by Timeandvlove
Summary: A normal man from Earth is granted the almighty power of the gamer, and promptly chained to a pipe and dropped in the room in the first Saw film. SI, timeloops, gore, horrible deaths.
1. Game begins

"The smell of the dead fills the air. The smoke from the artillery is all around you. A rat came and ate your lunch. Now, your commander has come to tell you. It's time to charge. You need to charge across the sea into the beach, into machine gun fire, trenches, mines, and weapons, and kill those Nazi bastards. Are you read to charge Adolf Hitler!"

One of the teens cheered, a girl with tied back black hair and loose clothing. "Yeah, I'll no scope that one sack bitch!" Several of the other teens laughed.

The school trip out had gone well. We were at Juno Beach, one of the landing zones for the allies in world war 2. I was hoping to get them some appreciation of what life was like for those who had entered into this deadly fight.

"It wasn't quite as easy as in Call of Duty. Everywhere was mined, and they had powerful guns and machine guns tracking your every move. The artillery bombardment for this beach wasn't quite as successful. You could be the best sniper and killer in the land, and die to a simple trap."

I brushed my foot across the sand, looking up at the group. "Maybe there's still some mines left-" I said, and I felt a click at my foot. There was a triplet of metal rods sticking out, and a small stopwatch tied to it. It tick tick ticked, ten seconds left.

Mines were not supposed to be like this. Mines were designed to kill people. They didn't have timers visible, they didn't wait for you to remove your foot, they just went off soon after you touched them.

This was an S Mine. A bouncing betty. It would explode and send shrapnel all around. I needed to protect them. I dived down on the mine, and called out. "Back off , everyone, Samantha, hair pin. This is real. Now." She tossed me a hair pin.

The mines had a disarm point. A little point you could hook in to stop it going off, to prevent the pressure sensor on the top . Normally, touching it with too much pressure would have set it off, but this one seemed to be a custom build with an electrical trigger running from the stopwatch to the lid, and a small device which looked like it would trigger it.

Using the hairpin I disarmed the mine, stopping the pressure sensor from working, and then ripped out the wires linking the stopwatch. I cracked them on my knee. I wasn't letting a secondary radio detonate it. Cogs and springs and bits of metal sprayed out.

I sighed in relief. "I hope that wasn't a prank by one of you guys." I said to my school group. "I-"

I heard a second set of ticking.

I brushed sand away, and saw a second stopwatch, with a wire running off into the sand of the Juno Beach. One second left.

I wrapped my body around the mine, shielding my school group. I needed to protect them I-

The pain was agonizing as the mine slammed into my chest, and then finding no give, exploded. Shrapnel rammed through my insides, ripping a bloody hole in me. I collapsed on the beach, my blood dying the yellow sand red once more, and looked out.

My class still lived. Samantha, Peter, Jenny-

"I will remember your name. Through fire or ash, I will remember it." The voice spoke into my head, a fire worse than the explosive. I felt my mind start to burn as it seized me-

And I died.

**Ping! You have entered the ultimate game!**

**You have been selected out of billions of candidates to receive the ultimate power of the gamer. You will be sent to a fictional universe with this power. Every experience will let you grow stronger, and when you complete the challenge you can return to your world with all that power. Ready to grasp ultimate power. **

**Do you accept? Y/N**

**Select no, and your soul will be cast into the void, for the creatures that lurk between universes to consume.**

I blinked confused. I had died?

That had been a pretty unfair trap. A hidden secondary detonation. I had even blocked the firing pin. This wasn't a good death. I sighed, and took stock. Always best to move on.

I looked up at the floating notification and then around me. I was in a black void and above me were a pair of letters and a slash symbol. Saying no didn't look great for me. I pressed my no longer bloody and wrecked finger to the symbol.

**Ping! The first step to ultimate power! Please create your character profile!**

**Please select name:** Adam Stanheight **Accept**/ Refuse/ Delete

And floating in the name box was a name. Adam Stanheight. I didn't recognize it. I tried to change it, but the name was greyed out, as was the delete key and the refuse key. I poked and poked but got no result.

I guess I was going in with a pregen? I could make it work. I'd prefer to set my own name but I could work with this. I pressed accept.

**Ping!**

**Please select job:** Photographer. **Accept**/Refuse ← /→

Again, the refuse option was greyed out.

"This is a mean game, system." I said, to no one in particular. Why couldn't I be a wizard? Or a technomage? Or something with almighty godlike powers. I sighed and I pressed the accept button.

**Perks! These augment your skills, letting you do unique actions that otherwise would have an extremely low chance of success. Perk points let you purchase new perks, and can be earned by completing quests. Perk points available. 102. Spent. 100. **

Perks.

Advanced photography. 50 points. Selected

Advanced stealth. 50 points. Selected

Air mastery. 50 perk points

Earth mastery. 50 perk points

**Final death. 2 perk points.**

Fire mastery. 50 perk points

Gamer's body. 100 perk points.

Gamer's mind. 100 perk points

Inventory. 100 perk points.

Lockpicking. 3 points.

Magic user. 100 perk points.

Ninja body. 100 perk points.

Super strength. 50 points.

Water mastery. 50 perk points

Respec/ **accept**

Those were extremely non optimal choices, and of course respec and the other useful perks were greyed out. I could be a wizard but my pregen was stuck with photography? I grumbled, and looked at the perks.

**Photography. Rank, advanced apprentice. Level, 6. You are an experienced photographer, with excellent skill at taking photographs, useful contacts, and a guaranteed earning potential of 36000 a year. **

**Stealth. Rank, advanced apprentice. Level, 8. You are experienced at avoiding notice, and will not be noticed by anyone equal or lower level than you, unless you do something obvious. Only applies when away from the attention of anyone. Reduces detection chance by 8% against people of your level.**

Truly, Lord Voldemort and Kaguya will fear my earning potential of 36000 a year. Stealth could be useful. Ambushes were powerful, he knew from most games. If you had the jump on someone you'd normally win. Photography sounded useless though.

Final death was also not greyed out. I glanced at that.

**Final death. Go to the void, do not pass hell, do not collect 200 life points. Your existence ends permanently. You will feel nothing ever again, are beyond resurrection, and will not go to any afterlife. Accept**/ refuse.

And refuse was greyed out.

I felt a moment of panic creep into me, and steeled myself.

"That's creepy, random omnipotent being. Very creepy. Let me out."

Nothing happened. I shouted out at the void.

"I am not dying in character creation. Bring back accept."

Nothing happened.

I sat there for what felt like hours, thinking. I tried poking at a few things, but the options remained up. I managed to make myself spin till I felt dizzy. I tried willing myself to move in various directions, but if I did move nothing happened. This wasn't a good start to my rise to ultimate power, but I could wait it out. This was a test, I hoped.

I checked my pockets. There was a British mars bar. I took it out and bit into it. Some food at least. It would probably be bad form to die in character creation, so I might as well stay full. I didn't have any water. Air seemed fine. I would last for a couple days if I just sat here. It should be fine. Maybe I could find a way to get to a safer story?

I thought back. I had been teleported here after I died by something and now...

This gamer story wasn't going quite how I'd hoped. I was being rail roaded into something and teased and it didn't look like I'd just be going to see Naruto or Harry Potter and becoming a wizard. I tried to remember.

Adam Stanheight.

I had heard that name before somewhere. A long time ago. I wracked my memory.

**Ping. You made your choice! **The final death option reduced in size again. I hadn't clicked that!

Where had I heard that name before?

**Name: Adam Stanheight**

**Job.:Photographer**

**Level: 1**

**Level: 1 (0/100)**

**Title. None**

**HP: 10**

**Stamina: 10**

**Strength: 10**

**Constitution: 9**

**Dexterity: 18**

**Intelligence: 8**

**Wisdom: 6**

**Luck: 1**

**Rearrange stats?** Y/**N These represent your general abilities, without any skills, and add onto any skill rolls. 10 is average for a human.**

I sighed again, and pressed N. Looked like I had a rogue build. No critical hits though, since my luck was apparently terrible. That just seemed like my day.

I felt the void and blackness twist. An impossibly vast face appeared before me, covered in countless eyes. Every direction I looked I could see the face. Black gore dripped off it. It rushed towards me and chomped.

And I was somewhere else. A room. Chilly air. I was sweating? I was scared? I think. It didn't feel like my emotions. I felt distant. I was in front of a closet. I could smell death, smell rotting flesh all around me. I looked down at my hands.

**Baseball bat. Durability 10/10. A simple device used to knock balls far away. Useful! +1 damage. **

**Ping! For holding an object of great sports potential, you have gained a skill! Baseball. Level 1.0/100 exp.**

And I looked up, as the closet opened. In front of me was a pig face, rotting and dead. They'd ripped off an actual pig's face and made no effort to preserve it, wearing it on their head like a mask. One of the eyes was popped, and the other was staring at me. I felt a waft of death coming at me and could barely resist the urge to vomit. Hands, calloused and rough, reached out towards me.

It stepped forward, and I stepped back, gripping my baseball bat like a teddy bear.

Something came together in my mind. Crap.

Amanda Young, apprentice of Jigsaw, star of a series of torture porn movies, lunged forward faster than I could react, grabbed my neck and expertly choked me out.

My last thoughts, as stars filled my vision and blackness flooded me, was that I really should have rewatched Saw at least once in the last decade.

* * *

So, a new Saw Gamer SI fanfiction awaits. He is trapped within the Saw universe, in the unlucky Adam Stanheight's body, doomed to relieve his most unpleasant times. Later he will go to other saw movies, and have brief times in other horror movies.

Story now heavily rewritten.

ibb dot co slash QpkkF5g to see the map I used when doing this adventure. Enjoy.


	2. Game continues

Water forced it's way into my lungs. I opened my eyes, and saw nothing but blackness. I jerked from side to side, still pumped from the fight a moment ago and felt my leg catch on something. It gripped me painfully, tugging me down below the water. Was it a snake grabbing me? Amanda? I twisted and turned, trying to escape her grip, her slimy wet hand on my leg.I jerked over and fell onto the floor with a wet thud, my leg painfully stinging as it hit the floor, gasping for air.

Then I remembered where I was. And that the key had been on my chest! Crap. Something bright flashed over my head.

I looked up.

**Debuff: Blindness. All physical stats reduced by 50%**

**Dexterity test failed! 10 dexterity needed to pass. 9/10 possessed. Key item (KEY) lost.**

Adam, that being my name, placed his head in his hands. Fuck his life. This was an unfair system. His best stat, debuffed a few seconds after he emerged.

I breathed in deep, trying to calm himself... myself. I could hear someone else moving in the darkness. That… cheating doctor dude? I didn't remember the film that well.

"We have to get out of here." I said

"I can't find any way out." Came a cold, calm voice.

"Can you turn on a light?"

"Would if I could.. Wait a second, I think I found something."

I looked up and-

"Ahhh fuck!"

My vision pulsed and blared with colours as lights above flashed on, blinding me. Another notification popped up, visible and clear despite his blindness.

**Debuff. Blinded. -50% to physical stats. Duration, 30 seconds. **

"Warn me next time. My eyes. Fuck. Ow."

He shook his head.

"You'll be fine in a moment." The man said, almost embarrassed.

I used him… me… Adam rubbing my eyes as a chance to think. I needed to escape. I needed to think through this calmly. I needed to master his gamer powers and gain ultimate power. I thought back to the film. Jigsaw was a psycho who captured people who had sinned in some way and put them in traps. In this case, I was a photographer who had been taking photos of this doctor guy who was caring for Jigsaw . I'd been hired by that… black… cop guy. Ex police? I think. Now I was chained to a pipe in an underground lair, and expected to cut off my foot to please Jigsaw and his will to live philosophy.

Oh, and the cigarettes were poisoned. I remembered that as well.

My greatest asset, I hoped, would be the gamer system. I opened my painful eyes, and saw all the previous notifications floating around.

I mentally dismissed them one by one, till a new one emerged, hidden behind all the rest.

**For surviving a near fatal encounter with a boss you have been awarded +1 con (physical gains delayed until you get a full night of sleep and food)**

So I could gain stats by doing things, but not physical stats until I got to rest, which was tricky when trapped in a psycho's underground lair. No doing push ups till I could rip my cuffs off. Maybe I could gain mental stats though? Not that I could think my way out of a handcuff. I was trapped here.

**For a shrewd analysis you have gained +1 wisdom**

My brain twisted. I felt a sharp pain as things within it re-arranged. I felt dizzy and collapsed to the floor, gasping. My senses intensified, the light glowing brighter, the stink of shit growing more powerful, my aches and crushed throat feeling more. Everything hurt more, and I felt all of that pain. I heard the flickering of the light, I heard the other man's breathing, I heard my heart racing.

Slowly I regained control of myself.

I had a new awareness, as my choices and decisions were expanded under the light of that wisdom.

It didn't give me any new options, or a new way out, but it did tell me that it was really unwise to get trapped by Saw, or take a job to investigate a psychopath for a couple hundred.

Thank you, foresight stat. It's great telling me that now.

Things came into focus.

"Are you sick?" Asked the man across the room, his voice disdainful.

**Wisdom check failed. 7/8 required. **

"I am fucking sick of being trapped here." I snapped. These stupid notifications.

"Calm down." He said.

"Give me a minute, I just need to get my head in order."

I mentally thought of a status screen. Maybe I could tweak them.

**Save Game**

**Load Game**

**Options**

**Stats**

**Skills**

**Perks**

Save game and load game proved useless. There was one save in there, and no option to make more or load anything.

Options was a bit more useful. I could play music- the entire Saw soundtrack. From just the first film. But that had the worst soundtrack! Where was suicide silence, or on the offensive? I sighed, and picked Pitbull Daycare - You Make Me Feel So Dead to play. It had an option of changing the language, adding subtitles, disabling notifications, but no option to give them a time delay. I wasn't gonna be one of those people who disabled notifications and then missed the pop up revealing key information. I'd learn to deal.

Stats had my pitiful stat sheet. There were boxes explaining each stat.

**Hitpoints. Your will to survive, no matter what pain or troubles you go through. Does not represent your durability. The human body can take a lot more than 10 damage. At zero, you become helpless.**

**Stamina. Your will to move and act. Drained by difficult tasks.**

**Strength. Your will to destroy and hurt others. Helps in physical conflicts.**

**Constitution. Your will to live, no matter the cost, and to push past pain and anguish.**

**Dexterity. Your will to move skillfully, to have agile hands and sophistication.**

**Intelligence. Your will to know and learn of the universe and yourself.**

**Wisdom. Your will to perceive yourself and those around you and understand the universe.**

**Luck. Your importance to the plot and degree of plot armor to stay alive even when you should not.**

**?.?**

The creepy nature of these stats filled me with determination to enhance my level of violence and execution points.

I guess they were Saw themed stats? So, based off this, I should be seeking to lift things and do feats of strength with objects and physics rather than just leveling up. If I wanted to increase my strength, when I had a better bed than this foot slicing toilet room, I should try murdering things.

**For working out new ways to interact with the universe, you have gained one intelligence!**

My brain was filled to the brim. Like a fire inside had turned to an inferno, I knew so much more. I could feel my brain shifting again as things slotted into place. This time, I managed to avoid collapsing, but only barely. Flashes of the film came back to me, flashes of my life, flashes of ideas and things I had remembered. I had been smarter, in my original life. This meat sack, this brain, Adam, couldn't contain all me, yet. But it was coming back.

Breathing deep, I looked up.

Gordan (I could observe his name) was there, looking unhappy to apparently be locked up with an invalid who had random fits. I quickly closed the menu, I needed to do something so I didn't lose him. We were in a medieval underground shower room. Toilets and urinals all around, and lots of pipes. I was handcuffed to a rusted pipe. Jigsaw was faking being dead on the floor, with a gun in his hand and a tape recorder nearby. There was a mirror nearby… something itches at my brain when I looked at it.

**Intelligence check failed. 9/10. **

That was an ominous spot check. Well, of course I would respect my avatar's failure and not meta game and just live and let live.

No I wouldn't. I am a filthy cheater, and if the game wants to tease me with notifications of my failures, I will abuse them. I grabbed the tank of the toilet seat nearby, looked at Gordan and gave a flimsy justification.

"I'm frustrated."

"That won't do anything." He replied, putting his arms up to shield himself.

And I shrugged tossed the toilet seat at the mirror.

The mirror cracked, broken glass flooding the floor, revealing a camera watching them, the toilet seat bouncing back close enough for me to use it.

**Dex roll succeeded! 18/15!**

Things clicked into place. Hadn't there been… some cop? Or something watching them because someone threatened to kill their family? My memory was hazy.

"Two way mirror." I said.

"So that's what this is. Reality tv." said the doctor dude.

I turned back to him, making an effort to calm myself.

"I am Adam. What's your name?"

He paused, not that sure of me, and didn't answer. I spoke again.

"I intend to get us out of here. With a little thing called logic. In the 40s there was a psychological test. You were given a candle, a book of matches and a box of thumb tacs. You had to find a way to light the candle on the wall so that it would stay there and no wax would drip down."

I leaned forward to pick up the toilet top, as the doctor looked on skeptically.

"Use the… no… use the box of the thumb tacs, pin that to the wall, and then put the candle in and light it?"

I guess he had a high int score. I was just going from memory. Doctors. Knowing things and facts. Nerds.

"Yes. We were stuck in this room, with a limited selection of items. Each had an intended purpose. In fact-

I reached into the toilet bowl- ew- and fished out a black bag. In it were some photos, and a pair of hacksaws for feet cutting off.

"Hacksaws! We can cut our handcuffs off. I guess you meant- we need to look around us and not see the intended purpose of the room items, such as storing water, but their actual function?"

I nodded. "Close, but not quite. Those hacksaws are fragile, the handcuffs are heavy steel, and quality work and would be hard to break. Their intended purpose is preventing you from escaping. They're made to stop that"

**Handcuffs. Sturdy and dependable, they will prevent your subject from escaping. 100/100 durability, 10 armor. Journeyman level lock.**

**Hacksaw. Hard enough to cut bone, but will break against any armor greater than 5. Durability 10/10. +1 damage.**

"However…Heavy, tough object." I held it up.

A notification flashed up.

**Toilet bowl. Used to store water within a toilet. +1 damage. 10/10 durability.**

I pointed at the rusted pipe. "A rust covered pipe."

**Rust covered pipe. Used to move waste out. Durability, 20/50**

And I got to work.

* * *

Thanks dragonbornthesam, JakeWJElliott2, this story shall continue. I am intending to work them through all of the movies.

And yes AdrianKing1, Saw is awesome.

I do like unique systems, Gatling 2745. Most gamer stories don't focus quite as much on bodily dismemberment, so this story shall have a few unique elements.


	3. Game advances

**1 damage dealt, 1 durability lost.**

**1 damage dealt, 1 durability lost.**

I hammered at the pipe with the toilet seat, my muscles burning. I could smell the rotten egg smell of the sulfur in the water. A bit of the rusty metal gave away with each hit, but it wasn't enough.. I could probably get some of those shards of glass, but I didn't want to use up my scarce resources. I wondered…

I took a few steps back, breathed in deep. This pipe was standing between me and freedom. It was looking at me smugly like an asshole, telling me that I would only me let free if I mutilated myself. This pipe had dragged me to this world, and not a nicer world like Naruto or Harry Potter. This pipe was the enemy. I stepped into the wall, putting all my weight into a harder hit.

The rust cracked under my weight and strength, sending a cloud of rust shards through the room. I coughed and wheezed. I rubbed my eyes, trying to clear it away, keeping my mouth closed.

**Power attack perk gained through spontaneous action. **

**Power attack. The will to destroy. Focus your will and hate and unleash it against a target in range. Does double damage at the cost of 5 stamina, and causes a critical hit if focused on a weak point.**

**Critical hit! 10 damage. **

**1 strength gained from powerful action (suspended till rest and food).**

I tore off my shirt, dunked it in the water, and held it to my mouth and breathed. Clean air. Cleanish. Better than toilet dust air. I looked around.

Several shards of wall porcelain had flown out. A few had hit my hand, causing minor bleeds, and one had even hit Jigsaw.

Oh yeah, I don't think I considered that much yet. So, a 'corpse' was lying in the middle of the toilet with a gun in hand. This was Jigsaw. The guy who had put us in here. He was here to watch, because this serial killer was creepy like that. A bald man in a bloody white shirt, so we thought, but actually a killer.

I glanced at him and winced.

**Unknown man.**

**Dead**

**Level 5**

**0/250 HP**

**?**

The shard was sticking into his arm, and-

**Arm of unknown man. Durability 9.9/10. 1 damage. **

Of course, the game had individual stats for each body part. I looked at myself. I had similarly lost 0.1 health for each of the three shards that had gotten past my clothing. So, he took the same damage as me? Despite being a high level boss? Could I disable his limbs and then cut away at his health over time?

Thoughts thoughts. If I attacked him he might wake up with supreme powers and own me.

Gordan had copied me, and made a makeshift mask with his clothing- from the looks of it, before I had gone in. He could work out my actions. He was smart.

"Tell me next time you do that." He said, his voice crisp and calm.

I nodded. "I think it's almost broken. I could use the hacksaws to finish it, but they would probably snap. They're flimsy looking."

"It might be better to leave them in if they got too deep. They could nick an artery. If you're not bleeding to death now, you're fine."

I shook my head. "If I had an easy life, sure. I doubt it'll be the last bit of exercise I do in this hellhole."

I summoned my stat screen, and looked at the stamina bar. A new piece of info appeared.

**Regeneration. 1 stamina per minute. **

So, I would be back at full in ten minutes. That would work. I turned back to the pipe, the cracked toilet seat in my hands, and opened my mouth to warn Gordan.

Then I closed it.

I might have a unique chance here. Whilst I was tied up I might be able to grind dexterity by using a hook to grab the gun and the tape recorder. I wasn't sure if we should play the tape recorder since it was made by a creepy psycho to manipulate us, but I could at least get some stat points for then.

I looked around, taking off my shirt and then trousers.

"What are you doing?"

I glanced at Gordan. "I'm gonna get the gun. If it's fully loaded then maybe I can shoot my way out."

I looked around for something else to help me- lots of pipes, toilets, shards of glass, the bathtub-

**New skill gained! Scavenge. The will to find and exploit the world for your own benefit. Level 1. 1% chance of a common property on a scavenged item, and a better chance of finding useful items.**

I felt my senses sharpen as I was able to better examine each part of the room for useful items. And there it was. The bathtub plug.

I yanked it out and tied it onto the end of my shirt.

It took me more tries than in the film. I got the cassette player easily, but hooking the gun proved unfeasible.

"Can I help?"

I looked at Gordan.

"Yeah. Can you hook it to you? I don't mean to hog the gun, just, it's useful."

He looked around, and shook his head. "No.. but I can shove it to you."

With some work Gordan yanked out the toilet next to him, and tossed it at the gun.

It knocked Jigsaw's hand away, and the gun slid across the room, closer to me.

I managed to get it then.

**For finding two key items with your dexterous action (Gun, tape recorder) you've gained 2 dexterity (suspended until you get rest and sleep.)**

The messages were a bit different every time. Was my omnipotent overlord writing each from above?

Asshole.

I opened the gun, checking for bullets. There weren't any.

**Intelligence check failed. 11/20.**

Well, that was a mystery. Maybe I should smash the gun like I did the mirror? Did it have a secret compartment? I inspected it.

**Revolver. Unused. 20/20 durability, 5 armor. Made of good steel. +2 damage. **

"No luck." I called out to him.

5 armor. Could I bash it against anything and it would be unbreakable? I did not know. Something for later. I wasn't willing to risk it till we got the bullet. I remembered it was somewhere.

Was it just a generic revolver? I guess I didn't really know guns well enough to identify a specific model. You pointed them and shot things? They worked with explosives? You shouldn't point them at people you liked.

Whilst I waited for my stamina to refill, I checked my menu again to work out what skills were.

**Skills. Your will to master the world. Gained through action, these allow you to more easily accomplish basic tasks.**

**Perks. Your mastery of some aspect of the world. Guarantees success in certain tasks against any person or object of a lower rank, and grants new options. Can be a branch of a skill, or an evolution of one. Ranks apprentice, advanced apprentice, journeyman, master, grandmaster. **

And one of my skills explained my advanced photography perk.

**Skill. Observation. Your will to perceive and understand the world. Grants knowledge of the world around you. Current rank, advanced apprentice. Level 6. 6% chance of finding a journeyman quality photograph. **

I also found in my perk area how to earn more points

**Quests.**

**The hunted becomes the hunted! 1 perk point for each canon Saw character you catch in a trap. Extra points for irony.**

**Escape The Room. 100 perk points. Escape the room, unharmed.**

**Altruistic escape artist. 100 perk points. Escape the room with Gordan alive and unharmed.**

**Disc one final boss. Kill Jigsaw. 1000 perk points. **

The last one sorely tempted me, but I resisted the urge. My wisdom was screaming warning signs at me. Amanda was probably watching, and I didn't trust Jigsaw to obey the laws of biology and stay down, even with whatever drugs he had used to fake being dead.

I flicked at one of the shards of toilet wall in my hand. A little blood dripped down. It hurt, but I had a high pain tolerance. I would endure this agony to escape. I got my top back on and wrapped my shirt around my hands, so that I wouldn't get sliced again.

With my Stamina at full and so not leaving me helpless I warned Gordan, angled my body to minimize the blowback, and charged in again, focusing all my hate, pain, and anger at the fucking leg slicing pipe.

**Critical hit! 10 damage. **

I quickly shielded myself from the inevitable smoke cloud, and waited it out. My makeshift shield didn't do much, and I got a full lungful of gases. I felt woozy.

I was free. I yanked my handcuff off the broken pipe, and walked over to my companion.

"Can you get me out now?" asked Gordan.

I nodded. "Soon. I'm gonna loot the room. We need supplies. First though- I held up my blood soaked hand.

He nodded. "Come here." He waved his hand at me, gesturing for me to come closer.

Luckily, none of the shards were near arteries or veins. He was able to-

"Owww." I said, as he yanked out a shard.

"You smash a pipe in with a toilet bowl, and this is what makes you hurt?"

"Yes." I nodded. "Be gentle. These hands have loved many women, and I hope to love many more in the future with them. The pain is a signal of what to- Fuck. Shit. Fucking shit." I swore, as he failed to respect my lady killer hands and yanked out another shard.

I blinked. That was a weird thing for me to say. I shook my head and focused again.

"What about you. You got anyone special?" I asked. I was avoiding going too much into his backstory, but it was good to bond.

"A wife, kids." He said without much passion.

"Ew, marriage. Not got a mistress on the side, eh?"

**Wisdom check failed. 3/5**

That was low.

He looked at me curiously, and dug the shard a little deeper in.

"No. Sorry." He said, not sounding sorry about digging it in.

"Hey man. Bros before hoes. Buuuut but but but, I won't pry." Why was I prying? He had a mistress or something which is part of why Jigsaw captured him, to protect the sanctity of marriage.

He nodded and drew out the shard.

**For observing a master level doctor performing first aid, you have gained a skill! First aid. **

That was neat. More skills. I'd look over the skill description later. I already had a headache. Something was making me less smarter. More dumber. Something.

I glanced at my status.

**Dust poisoning. 50% mental stats for one hour. **

And they rounded down. Of course they did.

"Lets get you out of here. First, as I said, supplies. I'm a little shocked from the dust, so don't be shocked if I say dumb things. Can you help me loot this place without making the water leak? Pipe means water. Umm. Yeah."

He looked at me with understanding. "That makes sense. Sure. I'll direct you."

He was cold, but efficient.

**Scavenging leveled up! Scavenging leveled up! Scavenging leveled up! Scavenging leveled up!**

At the end of it, I had quite the collection of the items.

9 assorted toilet fragments, with a combined durability of 75

17 shards of glass. Most were pretty pathetic. One damage, 1 durability. One benefited from my scavenging skill though, and had a special ability, sharpness, which let it destroy one armor in an object and do 2 damage.

2 pipes, 1 damage and 10 durability each.

Tapping on the walls, I found a secret compartment containing a box.

And then I worried.

I still had 40 minutes left while my mental stats were down, so I wasn't the smartest, but I remembered it was a really bad idea to play the tapes. Jigsaw seeded them to pit us against each other. I needed the key in his envelope, but not the cassette.

My brain felt fuzzy. It hurt. I couldn't think straight. But if we just sat still for forty minutes he would probably find it anyway.

"I need to tell you something. Tell you the truth."

"What… what did you do?"

He looked at Gordan.

"I've been tracking a serial killer. Name of Jigsaw." He- I saw recognition on Gordan's face.

"He kills people because he has-" Wisdom check succeeded! 5/5. Oh yeah. People listening. Adam wasn't that dumb.

I got close to Gordan. "Brain cancer. He likes to leave tape recorders for them so that they kill each other. That's why I was captured I think. I am pretty sure you will have a tape recorder, and it will manipulate your brain to kill me too. I have a tape."

I pulled it out.

"You do too probably. Along with more stuff. I need that stuff. Because we need to escape." My head was pounding. It was hard to explain things. Could I escape while less intelligent than an average child? Probably not. But I could get through this.

"It might contain helpful clues."

I shook my head.

"You want to follow his clues?"

He paused, for a long time, thinking, and then shook his head. "No, no, you're right." He patted his pockets, and soon drew out an envelope with a bullet, a tape, and a key.

That bullet, wow.

**Bullet. A manifestation of man's will to slay others, in metal form. 200 damage. Breaks 10 armor. **

That would help a lot.

And the key unlocked the box from the wall, granting us a phone, a lighter, and several cigarettes.

I looked over Gordan's character sheet while he tried to dial 911. His was a lot more impressive than mine.

**Name: Lawrence Gordan**

**Job.: Oncologist**

**Level: 2**

**Title. Cold doctor (50% chance of giving a positive status effect to someone when you heal them, and 50% chance of angering them emotionally.**

**HP: 30**

**Stamina: 26  
**

**Strength: 12**

**Constitution: 15**

**Dexterity: 14**

**Intelligence: 20**

**Wisdom: 4**

**Luck: 30**

Asshole- wait.

I looked at my own status.

**Pissed off at Gordan. -50% reputation for five minutes.**

Ok, irrational brain. You don't care what he does. Just so long as he does it. Ignore anger.

"I'm trying the police." The phone made a loud sound. He tried again and tried again. "It was meant to receive calls, not make them."

I nodded. "Useless to us then." I gestured at him. "Unless-" I said teasingly.

He nodded, and tossed it to me. I popped the battery out.

**Phone battery. Toxic. 10% debuff to stats if touched when stabbed, and a chance of an explosion. It can also power phones, but that's not what you care about.**

"There's another use. Let's get you free. Bullet is for door." I gestured at the solid door barring our way out, which we needed the bullet to open.

I got to work, smashing at the pipe connecting Gordon's leg to the wall. It took a few minutes, but I got it stripped off and saw-

**Steel pipe. Made to resist escape attempts for the chosen subject. Quality and well made steel. 50/50 durability. 12 armor.**

"Fuck you, Jigsaw. Fuck you."

It was time for a boss battle.

* * *

The adventure continues, and they meet the ultimate foe. A steel bar.

Dragonbornthesam, that does sound fun. A nice bit of randomization. Loot rolls and loot drops will be a major part of this fiction, where every item needs to be used to it's maximum potential, so that would add a nice random element to it. Could make a good upgrade to scavenge

Adrian King 1, metagaming is an important element of many a game. As you see with the gun, metagaming is not always enough to reveal the facts.

Acespeedninja. I shall continue. It's a fun and easy to write story.

Reviews always appreciated, along with any ideas for fun challenges, perks, or fun places to send the unlucky protagonist.


	4. Game over

"Heave. Heave. Heave." Together, one of our metal poles wrapped around the pipe, we pulled at it. We had been doing it for forty minutes, slowly warping the metal. This pipe was not going to stand in the way of us both escaping alive.

Steel would bend under enough force. Even if it wouldn't bend all the way for us, a little kink would weaken it a lot. I had bent steel rods myself for the garden. You could do it with enough leverage and will.

I don't know if this world had a physics engine, but while strength might be about killing potential, we were both reasonably heavy men with strong upper body strength. It shouldn't be impossible for us to bend the pole a little at least, together. At least, my now restored mental stats said so.

And it gave a little. It bent!

**Strength test! After a lot of hard work, the steel is close to bending- or snapping back. Exert as much force as you can in the next twenty seconds, or the pipe will snap back.**

A red bar appeared on the screen, moving up a bit with each tug.

"I need a break" Said Gordan. "My muscles-"

"No fucking way. Pull now." I shouted.

I burnt through my stamina like candy. I pulled and pulled, and shouted at him to keep pulling. He wasn't putting as much in- neither was I. We were both tired. But this was it. We had to get it bent. I couldn't break through the door after this, if I had to use the gun. We had to do this ourselves.

**10**

**9**

**8**

**7**

**6**

Gordon flopped to the ground. I was on my own. I had to do all the work myself. I felt a chill of cold run over my overheating muscles as I kept yanking. I would do this, alone, if needed. My stamina bar was empty, but I didn't care. My body still had strength.

**5**

**4**

**3**

I was close. So close. I could see it. The red bar was almost full.

I dug deep. I dug into my hate of being trapped in a dirty toilet underground, of my painful sore muscles, I dug deep, and found something that burnt with cold flames.

"Power strike!" I called out. And yanked.

The pipe I was using, thinner and more flimsy snapped. I flew back onto my ass, and Gordan went flying down, awkwardly yanked back by the chain.

And the steel pipe bent!

**Bent metal. 25% debuff. **

**Steel pipe. Made to resist escape attempts for the chosen subject. Quality and well made steel. 37/37****durability. 9 ****armor. **

**After running out of stamina, hitpoints tapped into. Torn muscles. 25% physical stat debuff for 24 hours. **

I laughed and laughed like a madman. We had done it. We had bent it!

"We didn't break it. What are you so happy about?" Said Gordan, as he awkwardly got back up.

"It's not about breaking it, yet. It's about weakening it. The hacksaws? Weak ass. But if we can fuck up the metal enough we can use them.

We tried hitting the steel for a while. The armor did it's job. Neither of us could even dent it. But this, this had worked. Now it was time for phase 2.

"We need heat first. Steel is weaker when heated up. We need something to burn." He swung his eyes at Gordan's clothes.

Gordan looked at him… me disgustedly and shook his head. "You first."

I was still getting these weird flashes. I didn't fit in this body. It didn't feel right. It wasn't mine, the legs were the wrong length, things were in the wrong place. Part of why I had smashed the mirror I think.

But that wasn't important. What was important was-

"We have another source of clothing." I said, jerking my thumb back at Jigsaw.

His face calmed. "Yes, that's logical. He doesn't need them now."

I went over, awkwardly, to his body, and with a lot of effort slowly disrobed Jigsaw. His skincare routine could really use some work. He was all wrinkly.

But he was also packing muscles. I could see why people wrote serial killers letters in jail.

I found something else, other than his clothes.

I held up a switch. "I found this on him. Stuck in his hands. What do you think it does?"

I tossed it to Gordan, suppressing my face's reaction.

He pressed it, and collapsed to the floor, spasming as an electrical pulse went through his body. The remote switch which I had totally known would shock him stayed in his hand and oh crap it was staying in his hand.

Electricity needed a circuit. Avoid a circuit, and it couldn't hurt you. I quickly shoved some of the toilet plastic over towards him, my muscles groaning, stood on them, and with a pull managed to roll him up onto them for a second. I then hit the remote away.

"Damn man, you ok?" I asked. Hadn't I dropped the gun in the film? I remember that I tried to shoot- Adam, the fictional character tried to shoot Jigsaw and the gun flew out of his hands. Was that just movie physics fail?

He shook his head after a moment.

"It shocked me!"

I went to pick it up.

"I guess that if he hadn't offed himself he would have had a chance to shock us too. Jigsaw is one creepy bastard.

Gordan nodded. "Very manipulative. Why was I shocked though? It's a solid floor. Shouldn't have been anywhere for the shock to go. No way to complete the circuit.

That was weird. I got close to the floor and looked at it, felt it, touched it.

There was a thin layer of dust and… wires. They were very small, too small to see without looking closely. But there were tiny holes drilled in the floor, and little wires coming out.

I yanked one out, and held it out to him.

"That would do it. Some sort of dust, probably conductive, along with wires. I'm impressed they didn't-"

I tugged out some more. "Ah, yep. Some of them did burn out."

A circuit was like a river. You needed a start point and an end point, and you needed them connected. You started at the mountain as rain, flowed down into the rivers, and then evaporated up into rain again. Battery, wire in, wire out, battery. Too much or too fast electricity, or water, in too narrow a channel and your river flooded over- or in this case, the wire burnt out.

I tugged out and showed him some melted wire.

"That's lucky. I might have died if they hadn't burnt out." He sounded really cold about it.

"Don't you care?"

"I do care, but I want to get back to my family so I can take a bit of pain" I nodded.

I glanced at his status. He had lost some HP, which was regenerating slowly, but had no status effects. Lucky.

My muscles hurt. Ow. It wasn't so much the force of tugging out the wires, but the motion. My shoulders killed.

"Anyway, step one" I said.

I took the special piece of glass that damaged armor in a handful of jigsaw clothes, and sliced it around the edge of the bent steel, gently poking a few holes in thinner parts, making a thinner section of the pipe, before the glass shattered.

We prepped the bin and filled it up with dirty water to douse any wounds.

"Step two, we're gonna set up a fire. His clothes, the paper I got, the batteries. We can use the plastic junk we have to set up a fire pit. That will weaken the pipe. Then, when it's damaged enough, I can hacksaw through the weakened metal. Or we can bash it in some more. You first. My muscles burn.

"We are risking some valuable supplies. We should be ready for this to fail."

I shook my head. "What happens happens. No point in worrying twice."

We set up the small fire pit. The batteries we had stolen from the tape recorder and the mobile phone got strapped onto the cloth and I carefully tied my bin bag from the toilet that had hacksaws and photos of Gordan cheating on his wife in it onto it. We needed all the heat we could get.

After that we piled up a small pile around the steel pipe.

He got the lighter, and I got a pair of clothing wrapped glass shards.

"You ready?" He asked. I nodded.

He set the edge of the clothes on fire with the lighter, and I stabbed both of the batteries.

They started to fizz and burn as multiple layers of internal battery things that were not meant to be in contact came into contact and reacted rapidly. Toxic gunk and fire shot out, splattering our makeshift barrier.

And the pipe.

**Warped status. 10% debuff. +1 damage. Lasts as long as the fire is active plus one minute.**

**Corroded status. 10% debuff. +2 damage. Permanent. **

**Steel pipe. Made to resist escape attempts for the chosen subject. Quality and well made steel. 26/29****durability. 6 ****armor. **

And nothing else happened. The stats didn't tick down any further. I hoped, waited, and wished something would happen but it just didn't.

"It's not enough."

I felt a cold pit in my stomach. We could have tried the fake cigarette death trick, got out. But I had used up the phone battery, because I wanted to be smart. Was this the end? Us starving to death because of the pipe?

It looked weaker. There were holes in it, areas where the battery fluids or the heat or the glass had cut open parts of it. Not enough but... It looked almost like a grin to me. It was smiling at me. I had tossed everything I had at it, and it wasn't enough. I wasn't even sure if the bullet would work. With my luck, it would ricochet and kill me.

"Get behind me." said Gordan. I looked at him, and obeyed, confused.

He stepped up onto a fragment of urinal. He had the shocking button in his hand! He pressed it.

Very quickly parts of the steel pipe heated up as a taser shock of electricity went through it's weakened, heated frame, glowing bright red.

**Hydrogen embrittlement! 25% debuff. **

**Steel pipe. Made to resist escape attempts for the chosen subject. Quality and well made steel. 19/21 ****durability. 4 ****armor. **

The pipe's smile was a mad red now, glowing at us like the devil. But it's armor was down now, and we had to seize the moment.

Sweeping aside the fire, turning off the electricity, we both lunged in with the hacksaws. My muscles burned, but the hacksaws didn't need a full strength stat. We sliced and cut, the pipe glaring at us as we did so.

We were almost there when the battery suddenly started spurting again. A drop of some burning, horrible substance fell on my forearm. It sizzled.

I bit my lip, hard enough to draw blood and taste the iron, and kept sawing. My muscles burned, drained even by this effort but I didn't dare stop. The fire debuff was running out, and when it did...

**Steel pipe. Made to resist escape attempts for the chosen subject. Quality and well made steel. 5/21****durability. 4****armor. **

**11 seconds left. **

**4/21**

**8 seconds left**

**2/21**

**5 seconds left**

The hacksaw snapped! I looked at it in shock. Gordan was taking his fucking time, sawing slowly and carefully.

**3 seconds left.**

The now cooler face of the pipe grinned at me. It would win, and we would never escape.

"Power attack!" I smashed the base of the hacksaw against the pipe.

**2 damage done! 4 used up on armor. Critical strike!**

It snapped and broke. At the mouth it tore, ripping apart under the force of my blow, the jagged bottom half jerking away from the top of the pipe, slamming against the bin to a stop. Weakened by acid, heat, electricity, glass, and hacksaws, it stood no chance.

**Through technical engineering and brutal effort you have defeated the pipe! Gain the title Pipeslayer! 100% extra damage against pipes. +1 strength and +1 int. **

Quickly, I poured water from the helpful bin on my arm, soothing the burn there.

I laughed again. We had done it. The pipe was dead. Long live the Pipeslayer!

"Why do you yell power strike whenever you push yourself?" Gordan asked, slowly working his handcuff out.

"I- oh, it's an anime thing."

He looked confused for a second.

"Oh, Japanese porn?"

I nodded. "Yes. It's Japanese porn."

"So the power strike is your-"

"Yes, yes it is. It's exactly what you're thinking of." I was too exhausted to explain the nuances of Japanese cartoons.

It was mostly an emotional thing. There was an emotional place of hate and pain I had to tap into to use power strike. I was pushing myself to my limit with it. A lower limit now that I had the debuff. To get into that emotional state, yelling the word helped. Luckily Gordan was a cold unemotional- oh yeah. I had probably pissed him off by shouting too much. He didn't like people being overly emotional.

Oh well.

I checked out my new title. Neat. I could really slay pipes now. The knowledge upgrade helped as well. My body hurt so much that I hadn't even noticed more things slotting into place.

Thanks agony!

After lying collapsed for a while as Gordan, unharmed, worked his handcuff out of the messed up contraption we had made, we turned to the final barrier.

**Steel gate. 350 HP. Sealed. 10 armor. A steel gate, well made, designed to resist escape.**

With what we had left, we had 90 durability worth of items to expend on the wall.

We would be making a little gun nook because the bullet might rebound. We would lose some durability there, but we could make that up with the bin, the gun, the chest, the hacksaw. The phone and the cassette sadly didn't do anything smash worthy.

Between those we had 45 more durability worth of hits to expend. That should leave us, with the bullet, down 15 health to rip through the gate, minus whatever the bullet destroyed when it rebounded.

So, no way through right?

Wrong. We had three options.

1\. We could weaponize Jigsaw's body. Use his corpse as a battering ram. Sharpen his bones into blades to slice open the door. I was against this option because Amanda would be mad.

2\. We could get the camera out that they were watching us with and use that as a battering ram. This was an option, but again it might trigger bad things, and the camera likely wouldn't be that durable.

3\. I could abuse my power strike power by using it when each object had 1 durability left and eke out some extra damage.

Option 3 was best. Less risk of retaliation.

After tapping the door a while to find where the bar was, we stood together, the gun in our makeshift toilet bowl shield.

"You can do it. My hand is shaking too bad." I handed him the gun.

Maybe if he had heard the tapes I'd be worried. But he had no idea that his family would be safe if he killed me, just the way I liked it.

He took it, aimed at a spot just below the bar, and fired.

The bullet went forward with a powerful thud, white dust and rust spreading everywhere.

The steel cracked and deformed around the bullet, not quite breaking, but close.

It took a lot of work, and a lot of sweat and pain, but we worked that crack open. We hit it, stabbed it, sliced it, and just generally went to town. Eventually we managed to peel the steel back just a few inches.

Then he took our one remaining pipe and held it under the bar..

"When I say, slide the door. Wait for it, wait for it… now!"

I put my weight against the door, sliding it open, ready for freedom.

Then the world filled with blackness, redness, and stars. I staggered back, a hand to my head, my world spinning. I tripped on the bin. I vomited out what little remained in my guts, and fell to the ground. I felt a sharp, stabbing pain and cried out, as I heard the thud of metal hitting flesh.

"You didn't really want to live. You just, macgyvered your way out. You don't deserve." Amanda said.

I heard the click of handcuffs.

"Fresh batteries for the tape, a new hacksaw, and a shiny new pipe. Aren't you lucky?" Amanda said. Jigsaw's apprentice. A red haired druggee he had recruited to help him out. And she was keeping us in. She had apparently been sitting right outside the door waiting for us.

I groaned, and tried to pull myself up, failing. Everything burnt. I looked at my chest. The pipe, the steel pipe I had cut, was sticking through my chest, leaking blood.

"Why did you do this? We tried! We wanted to live. We did everything!" I shouted out at Amanda.

Amanda turned to look at me.

"You. I heard you whisper about his brain cancer. That's why."

I shouldn't have mentioned that before. I was dust fumed but. Damn. She was very protective.

"But I tried. I did everything your tape asked." I said, gasping for air.

She walked over to me, and kicked my chest. I flinched away.

"You tricked your way out."

"Then why is my arm burnt? Why are my muscles burnt and torn? Why is my hand sliced up my shrapnel? I wanted to live. I want to live." She looked from side side, then spat in my face.

"You're the surplus. You never mattered. You were here to test Gordan. Nothing more. You're trash. Trash which knows too much."

She glanced at my chest.

"Macgyver your way out of that. Game Over." She gave me another solid kick, cracking several ribs, and walked out.

My vision was starting to go blurry. Blackness filled the edge. I saw Gordon, chained to a new pipe, his head bleeding from a hit. I saw Jigsaw being dragged out, him in one hand, a baseball bat in the other...

And the last thing I saw before the end was the top end of the pipe, still smiling it's joker smile at me. In the end, the pipe won.

I died.

* * *

Story over guys, nothing more to see.

But no, the game is not that merciful. He will be back.

Adam really got a raw deal in Saw. I'll be covering it more in the next chapter, but, he did everything in the film his tape told him to, unlike Gordon who failed to kill Adam in the time frame, and then got left locked up with no way to escape because Amanda tossed the key on his chest in the bathroom while Gordon got expert medical care from Jigsaw. And then Amanda murdered him.

Dragonbornthesam, yeah the system as I have it written up works through debuffs but with sufficient will to live you can ignore stuff like lost limbs. A limb might have 5 HP so if Adam sliced off his arm he would still be functional. Would have to find a way to stem the bleeding but if he did then he could totally one armed hero his way out of things with full stats. The perks do sound fun, and I will add them to the list. Perks are always fun. That said, his luck is generally gonna stay quite low. Part of his thing will be that he doesn't get to be the characters with plot armor, he gets the nobodies who get murdered. He must fight against fate to survive.

Williams1996, the intention is that he should be done with Saw 1 in two chapters more, unless writing hits a snag, so after that he will be free. He is gonna work his way through the entire Saw film set, but whilst I plot out Saw 2, he can go on some sidequests. Any suggestions as to horror movies he should visit?

Perks, world suggestions, and reviews are always appreciated.


	5. Game Surplus

Or not?

I felt a painful sensation in my chest.

John Kramer, Jigsaw, in the flesh. His old wrinkled mug stood above me, looming like the least pleasant guardian angel in the world.

**John Kramer/ Jigsaw. Level 10. 1000 HP.**

That mother fucker was packing. Was that like movie villain toughness? Was he bullet proof?

I looked down, blinking dry eyes. I was away from the pole, and he was sewing up my chest. My shirt was soaked with blood, and I was in agony, but I was alive.

"Most people are ungrateful to be alive, but not you. Not even before. You surprised me. You knew who I was?"

I nodded weakly. "Yeah, you had a drawing of the reverse bear trap in your hospital bed.

"Ah. Perceptive. I never pegged you as someone who would try this hard. I thought you were lost, drifting through aimlessly."

I shook my head. I needed him to like me.

"I went after rich assholes. I took them down because the rich fuck up America. Like say, a rich guy with too much time on his hands who builds torture dungeons for random photographers."

He smiled, and pushed the next needle in painfully deep. I might have cried out, but I was already in a lot of pain.

"Medical bills ate up most of my fortune. All this-" He gestured around. "Home made. From abandoned houses and scrap yards."

"Some of this stuff-" I tried to lift my arms to gesture at the steel pipe and door, but since my core had literally been torn out, failed.

"Is beyond that. How do you get such quality stuff."

"When you're good at anticipating the human mind, you leave nothing to chance. The mechanical nature of each device matters, I won't say otherwise, but you need to think about why each object is there. What the purpose was, what the previous owner was thinking. You need to research locations. Then you can find the steel needle in the haystack."

**You have received tutoring from a grandmaster in scavenging! Scavenging levels up to level 10. Perk option received, Gacha. +1 wisdom from Jigsaw's wise words!**

"I'll be in touch, if you managed to make it out. I could use someone with your potential."

I sighed. "You know what the worst thing about this is?" I said.

He frowned at me. "You don't appreciate-"

I cut him off. "No no, I mean after. I am gonna have hellish medical bills to pay. I am ninety percent sure I have every disease known to man, and-" I gestured at my tore up chest. "This needs serious medical attention. I bet you'll count as an act of God and insurance won't pay."

Buttering up the psycho. I knew he was evil. I knew he was crazy. But he had my guts in his hands, and I totally wanted to power level scavenging under a guy who could find working springs and metal and everything in a scrap yard.

I had pain resistance aplenty. My schooling years had not been pleasant, and I could take some of his crazy games. Maybe I could max out that trap people quest as well.

He looked contemplative. "Remember anyone who does that. We can visit them later."

He smiled down at me, a creepy, serial killer smile.

"All done." He patted his hands together. "Make it out on your own and we'll talk."

"Oh did Gordan?" I asked. Then I looked over. Bloody foot. "Oh no, forget I asked. You didn't give him any more help than me, right."

Jigsaw looked back and smiled his creepy grin. "He's a doctor. You're a photographer. Work it out."

And walked off. Mother fucker. I was valuable. I could kill people too. Why do you reject me, serial killer sensei?

Well, my status appeared ok. Whatever Kramer had done, I was stabilized. Now it was just a matter of getting out to the outside.

I reached forward a blood soaked hand and- a foot. A shoe.

Amanda looked down at me.

"I'm gonna help you."

She held up some plastic wrap.

"I'm gonna free you."

"No-" And I was unable to say any more as she thrust the plastic around my head. I struggled and kicked, pushing all my meagre strength into it. There.

I grabbed it with my hand. My hand burnt as I held the shard of glass in it, digging into my flesh. I stabbed it up at her, a power attack.

She staggered back, and I pulled the plastic off my face.

"Jigsaw saved me. He wants me. He wants me as his apprentice!" I cried out.

"I know. I'm his only apprentice." She said, clutching her bloody side. With a kick she knocked the shard of glass out of my hand, and stamped down on my face with her foot.

I felt the world go fuzzy, strange. Then blank, as she stamped down again.

And this time, I died for real.

Really. My physical body was dead. She had, I don't know, stomped out my brains. But it was not the end.

All this went through my brain, like her foot had previously also gone through my brain, as I held the baseball bat tight in my hand, and stared at the closet.

"Amanda, you manipulative bitch!" I called out. I was in a time loop.

I didn't do any better in the fight the second time around. My physical stats were still terrible and my meagre efforts to swing the bat apparently didn't grant me kung fu. I woke up again in the bathtub.

And failed the dex roll again. Collapsing on a tetanus filled pipe was apparently not enough to count as quality rest and sleep and get physical upgrades.

I did a by the motions run through after that, thinking. I worked with Gordon to unlock the clues, thinking.

Something was off. I had been doing really badly before in some ways. Like, I whacked a pipe and got dust poisoning. I got acid spray on my hand. Amanda stepped out from behind the door and hit me with a pipe and I fell straight onto it.

Gordan had fired the gun and done fine. He had sawed happily with no problems. Was it the power attack? Maybe I didn't have the prereqs for it. Maybe he had skills I didn't, or perks?

I remembered he had become Jigsaw's apprentice. Maybe he was super competent somehow.

Maybe it was just movie logic. I wasn't the main character, I got the pain. I wasn't sure. Jigsaw and Amanda felt so. I wasn't a doctor, I was the surplus. I had just been put in here to test Gordon. Jigsaw hated people who did bad things. Adam hadn't done bad things. He didn't even deserve to be here.

But, he got all this.

We got our tapes and were ready to play this. If I followed canon and was smarter, we could be ok. I had carefully swept away the conductive salt and tugged out the conductive wires. I wasn't shockable.

The tapes started playing one by one, in their creepy high pitched tones.

"Dr Gordon, this is your wake up call. Every day of your working life you have given people the news that they are going to die soon. Now you will be the cause of death. Your aim in this game is to kill have until six on the clock to do it. There's a man in the room with you. When there's that much poison in your blood the only thing left to do is shoot yourself. **Cough** There are ways to win hidden all around you. Just remember, X marks the spot for the treasure. If you do not kill Adam by 6:00 then Alison and Diana will die, Dr Gordon. And I'll leave you in this room to rot. Let the game begin."

"Rise and shine, Adam. You're probably wondering where you are. I'll tell you where you might be. You might be in the room that you die in. Up until now, you simply sat in the shadows watching others live out their lives. But what do voyeurs see when they look in the mirror? Now I see you as a strange mix of someone angry and yet apathetic. But mostly just pathetic. So are you going to watch yourself die today, Adam? Or do something about it?"

Something inside me snapped. I took the hacksaw and went to work on my pipe. With my title, it went quickly. "Why does Gordan get a clear actionable goal- kill me, by 6, and you'll not leave him in the room to rot- while I get nothing. Aren't you supposed to be all about putting people in situations where they might die, unless they learn a lesson? What's my lesson? Do something?" I got free, and went to the wall to get the chest. "And you know, I bet even if I did things- tell Gordon I saw him fucking his mistress"

"I didn't-"

I gestured at him with a hacksaw.

"Shut up. I don't give a crap if you covered yourself in peanut butter and had a fifteen hooker gang bang! This is about Jigsaw."

I continued. "Even if I worked with him to find clues, find the hacksaw, cut the chains, do something sneaky, stay alive till six, you still wouldn't help me. Because I am the fucking surplus. I am here to test a potential recruit, I don't matter."

I spat with disgust, yanking the chest out. The envelope with the key to the bullet in was on the side. I went to pick it up.

"Angry? Apathetic? Pathetic? I have a job. I pay my taxes. I put down rich scum bags and stop criminals. What do you do, Jigsaw? You're a homeless murder hobo. You don't even have a job. You don't even have a philosophy. What lesson was Mark Wilson supposed to learn in the Jelly trap. That he can't count hundreds of numbers quickly? How was I supposed to escape when my key went down the drain? You employ Amanda, and she's a complete psycho who murders people for fun. You're a homeless, handicapped hypocritical hobo."

I forced the revolver out of Jigsaw's hand, and the electrical button, working against his weight.

"You know what you get when you treat everyone who's not important to you like trash, surplus?"

I loaded the revolver with the bullet from the box, and pressed it to Jigsaw's paralyzed head.

"You get what you fucking deserve!"

I pulled the trigger. Quicker than I thought possible he twisted, grabbing my arm. He yanked it away. I yanked back. The bullet thudded into his shoulder, ripping open a bloody hole.

**200 damage done! Bleeding condition inflicted (1 damage per second).**

I lunged forward, aiming to stab the barrel into his eye. He tried to block me with the arm I had shot, failed, and took a blow to the head.

**10 damage done! Minor concussion inflicted. 10% debuff.**

He rolled away, getting up quickly. He was down to 13 hp out of 225 now. I just had to survive a bit longer now. I don't know how his horror villain ass was able to ignore muscle relaxants, but he couldn't ignore bleeding out. I backed away quickly. Time was on my side. I yanked out the bin by Gordon, and held it up in time to block a thrown knife. Thank you 18 dex. Where the hell was he storing those? They weren't on him when I looted his wrinkly ass.

10 HP.

He was pressing a hand to his shoulder, slowing the bleeding and called out to Gordon.

"Kill him, and I'll let you and your family free."

I looked at Gordon, then back at Jigsaw, keeping an eye on the knives.

"I know him, we can get you home safe. I'm with the police."

Time ticked down. Jigsaw's health, more slowly, dripped down. His hand was increasing the ticks per damage Gordon made a choice. "I'd hope you die of brain cancer, but I think you'll be dying a bit faster."

5HP.

From some I assumed magical hammer dimension Jigsaw pulled another knife, and charged.

"Grab him!"

I ordered Gordon, moving in to hit his knife hand with the bin.

Jigsaw clearly wasn't in top shape. I managed to knock aside his hand, and Gordon tackled him. Then I pressed the electrical button. A powerful current ran through the pair of them. They both spasmed, shook, and fell to the floor, blood leaking freely out of Jigsaw's shoulder as his health ticked down to 0. It was over. 1000 perk points, here I come. Dignity restored. I breathed a sigh of relief.

**Desire for life perk activated. For seeing a grand master grade perk, gain +1 constitution (suspended until you get food and quality rest). **

"You cheating bastard!" I shouted.

Jigsaw's health suddenly ticked up 50 points. His eyes flashed open. He grabbed the knife, and in a single fluid, accurate, not quite as floppy as before throw, he tossed the knife to my neck. As I died again, my throat a bloody red mess, my head swimming, I remembered that you should always double tap.

After the ceremonial pig choking, I woke up again. And I felt sore. It was so sore. My neck hurt. **Congratulations! For dying twice in a row in short succession you have unlocked a new feature! Every time you die you'll inherit some degree of your injuries from the previous life. Survive long enough and the damage will be healed. Good luck!**

**Blood loss. 25% physical debuff. **

This game was the worst.

* * *

The next chapter will be the finale. With his physical stats degraded, degrading further with each further death, can he escape the unescapable dungeon? And will Amanda fuck him over? Find over soon. After that, off to another fictional universe, then Saw 2. Fantasy and sci fi and weird horror films are fine.

ArchieElite. With each death he grows stronger, smarter, and better. He will be screwed over much, but he grows from his pain. Pain is weakness leaving the body.

Dragonbornthesame. He does get a lot of tetanus here. Perk added to the list.

Adrian King 1. I had intended for him to just die, but your idea is better. He gets to live! For a bit. And yep, he's on a clock now. He needs to escape soon or he'll grow too weak to do anything and be trapped in an endless loop of agony and pain.

IncognitoMinerals. Yeah, Jigsaw is a really salty shit. He's very erratic with his traps, and wants them solved in his way.

Gatling2745. All of those perks have been added to the list, and in some form or another will be available.

Williams1996. I like easy to write stories. Combining a bunch is work, but running the SI through a universe, realistic, sci fi, fantasy, whatever is all good.

Guest. Amanda came from behind the door. She was lurking around listening in, to see if she had to intervene because she's obsessed with Jigsaw. Adam talked very loudly, he meant to whisper but he was suffering from brain damage. He agrees the pipe piercing him was a cop out, although the way it worked, he slid open the door, she stepped in and whacked him with a pipe to the head, and he fell down and slid on the pipe, around where Gordon was sitting. If I could add images, I would add my floorplan. The physics directions work out at least.

Any suggestions for his next world/ worlds or new perks, or ideas on how to escape, in reviews? Would love to hear any thoughts.


	6. Game Sidekick

I could see the future. My wounds and injuries would accumulate, worsening with each death. Gordon would have little issue killing an invalid, and Amanda might even mercy kill me. I would be stuck in an endless loop of agony. Maybe I would retain enough awareness to activate the perk menu and choose final death. Maybe not.

I might get mental degradation in time. I'd be nothing but a fleshy ball of agony, cycling through this life endlessly. Maybe in a few trillion years whatever powered this loop would run out and I would finally end.

I intended to win. So, I needed to be smart. Ignoring my tired muscles, I got the hacksaw and made quick work of my pipe.

I didn't collect up broken urinal bits. I was too refined for that. I smashed the mirrors nearby, and managed to get three special shards from there.

Two of them were sharpness ones like before. They could degrade armor. One was a bit different.

**Thick shard of glass. This piece didn't shatter fully, unlike the others, and still retains it's original toughness. +1 damage, 5/5 durability.**

That was the common property at work. Lucky me. Would be a bit tougher.

It would work. I got one of the pipes, sadly quite mundane, and wrapped it in one of Jigsaw's shirts and attached the spike to the end. I got a surprise then.

**Crafting success! You have created an extremely crude spear.**

**Crude glass spear. Perhaps worse even than those crafted by your apelike ancestors, this spear will deal at least one hard hit regardless. +2 damage, 10/10 durability. **

**You gain 1 crafting level! 1% chance of giving a crafted item a common property. **

That would be useful for the future. For now though, this would work well.

I glanced at my status screen.

**Name: Adam Stanheight**

**Job.:Photographer**

**Level: 1**

**Level: 1 (0/100)**

**Title. None**

**HP: 6**

**Stamina: 6**

**Strength: 7/10** **(2 suspended)**

**Constitution: 6/9** **(2 suspended)**

**Dexterity: 13** **(2 suspended)**

**Intelligence: 10**

**Wisdom: 8**

**Luck: 1**

**Skills. Scavenging Level 10. 42/100 exp. **

**Photography. Advanced apprentice level 5 21/100 exp.**

There were a bunch of other skills. Driving, cooking, art, history of art,a baseball skill from wielding the baseball bat at the start. Nothing like physical endurance to reduce all damage. No magic missile. Nothing else really relevant to me here.

I'd realized something vital before. I wasn't strong enough. Adam tried his best, but his previous life hadn't equipped him with powerful enough stats.

Gordon, from skill, level ups, from whatever, was more powerful. When he did things the universe didn't screw him up. This was even more true now, with my debuffs.

I wasn't the main character of this. This was his movie. His origin. If I went against him I'd lose. If I went on my own, I'd lose.

I wasn't the surplus. But I could be the sidekick.

**You have gained +1 intelligence for a shrewd observation!**

I got the tape recorder, the electrical button, and the revolver and leaned close into Gordon, whispering this time and not shouting so that Amanda wouldn't hear.

"My name is Adam. I'm with the police. There's someone outside. I can hear them creeping around."

Gordon started to look backwards and I quickly shook my head. "Don't. They might be watching. I'm scared man. What is this place? There's a body? And blood!"

"From the looks of thing, they didn't intend us to go much further." He tugged his chain.

I needed to push.

"We're trapped!"

"Calm down." He said, annoyed.

I instantly, and submissively simmered down my emotions. "You're right man, sorry." He seemed pleased at me calming down on command. I got to work on his pipe with some glass and toilet scrap. I could see some weak points I had missed before with my Pipeslayer perk, and was able to get to work on slicing through. "I'm glad I'm in here with you. Why do you think we're here?"

Gordon stood up, leaning against the pipe, a pillar of calm coldness. "Well Adam, what we need to do is start thinking about why we're here. Whoever brought us here could've killed us by now. But they didn't. They must want something from us." He looked up and around the room. "The question is… what." He looked at the clock, brand new because Jigsaw brought it in.

"I'm confused. Why does that matter?" I asked, in my best wondrous and confused tone. "It's a clock. They tick."

"It's brand new."

"So, a brand new ticking clock?"

He sighed. It was so simple. "So someone wants us to know the time." I clicked my fingers.

"I get it. We must be in a time based challenge of some sort. Two hours till they release the laser sharks."

He looked at me strangely. "Laser sharks aren't real."

"That's what they want you to think." I said, in my best zany sidekick impression, patting my chest.

"Oh, what's this?" I said, pulling out the tape. "Wait, do you have anything like this?"

He took out his tape and held out his hand. "That's fine. We'll work our way through it. Tape?"

I handed it to him, along with my tape. "Yes sir." He played each of our tapes, and started rewinding over the section about the heart.

Ohh. The toilet. I had just… yeah, taken the lid to smash my way out. It had a heart on it. I hadn't actually realized. It was ages since I had seen Saw.

"The toilet!" I said. "I was next to it, and it had a heart!"

**You have gained +1 wisdom for an astute observation. **

Useful for later.

"Yeah, I already looted that. And your pole is solid steel. I'm not getting through it without some serious work." I gestured at my once nemesis, under the rusty pipe.

"They don't want me to cut through my pipe. He wants me to cut through my foot. I think I know who did this. You probably do, if you're with the police."

"Likes traps, cryptic puzzles, sadistic- wait, let's say it together on one two three- Riddler!"

He frowned at me. "Really?"

I shook my head. "Sorry. I joke when I'm nervous. I'll try to rein it in sir. Jigsaw."

I spent a while listening to his backstory. Jigsaw had left a pen at a crime scene to frame him, Tapp had been after his ass since. He had a mysterious meeting with a patient. That was a thread I would not be tugging at!

"I get it. A lot of patients need individual care."

Gordon nodded, smiling for the first time.

"They do. Tapp though..." He shook his head.

"I knew Tapp. A real asshole. Sorry about that. You know, we had a break on the case." I leaned in really close, and whispered to him. "He had an apprentice. I think that might be who is outside. A lady, Amanda. Some druggie bitch."

Gordon glanced at the mirror and the camera, the pipe. "Every possible angle has been thought out by him." He looked deep in thought. "It's a brilliant design."

I nodded. "Yeah. Know your enemies, right?"

He looked appreciative.

"To overcome something you have to understand what a perfect engine it is. That's how you fight disease. Now, the tape told us to find an X. That X has to be somewhere in this room. Help me find it."

"Yes sir. I am so glad you're here. I'd be a wreck if here on my own, worrying about my family. Your family is very lucky to have you."

He paused, and looked at me.

"Are you coming onto me? Because don't."

I looked over his pale, pasty, malnourished, dehydrated body, and wondered how anyone saw this as romantic. Two men locked in a room I guess?

I shook my head. "No, no, you just seem like the best chance to get out of here. You're smart. I don't play for that team." Did Adam? I had no clue. But why risk offending him.

"So, tell me about your family."

He then went on a long rant about his family and his daughter till he reached one where his wife and daughter were bound and gagged.

"That's my favorite one because-" I waved it in front of him and he got a look of shock. "He took the picture!" I saw an X. X marks the spot. Sometimes you see more with your eyes closed.

Oh, the blindness puzzle. You turn off the lights and the hidden chest is revealed. I'd forgotten that. I'd just found it by trial and error last time.

"Wait, there's a puzzle on this." I handed it to him. "I don't get this." I closed my eyes. "I don't get it."

"You have to turn the light off, I bet." Said Gordon. He switched the light off, and tada, we got the chest, and another wisdom point. The main quest line was loaded.

"How come I didn't see it before?" Asked Gordon.

Finally a time for my art skill to shine! "It's glow in the dark paint. It only shows up when you're in the darkness."

We divided the spoils of the loot, the cigarettes and the lighter and the phone, which I promptly did a factory reset on and I had a serious talk with him, quietly, right up close.

"I think I know a way to get us out of here. Amanda- she's obsessed with Jigsaw and…

How did I say that he was there?

**Wisdom check (10/10) succeeded. The gun. **

I held the revolver to him.

"Revolvers leave caps. This one doesn't have one. That man over there, don't you recognize him- the police knew him. The brain cancer patient. They suspected he was the one. If we threaten him, Amanda will come running. And we have a gun. I am just not sure how best to do it."

"We can just shoot her."

I shook my head. "These are people who have foot cutting off traps. Crazy pain resistance. A single bullet, unless it's to the head or the spine, isn't gonna put someone down. We need to set up a trap. When she comes in we have to take her down. But I don't get how."

He looked thoughtful. "I have a few ideas..."

I had totally had a plan. Flood the room, convince Amanda that Jigsaw would drown, and we had no idea she was there. Gordon had a different plan, and he was the protagonist. I was the sidekick. And now, the bait.

Jigsaw hadn't reacted when I had stripped him naked. He was apparently very committed to this game. I could use that.

I stood over him, pressing the hacksaw to his throat. "Amandaaaa. Amandaaaa. Come out to play. We have your master. Jigsaw. I'll slice his pretty little throat if you don't come to play."

Then I waited.

"Amanda. You're just like me. Like Jigsaw. Look. We're all the same colour on the inside."

I pressed the hacksaw just a teensy bit into Jigsaw's throat. It was tempting to go for the 1000 perk points, but I was sure he'd show a sudden burst of agility and stop me.

I tried a different angle.

"People don't change. You were a sad druggie, and you'll always be a sad druggie. One day you'll give into that urge and kill yourself again. You should kill yourself now and save the world the trouble. You will never be Jigsaw, you'll never amount to anything."

And the door slid open. I quickly did what Gordon was very quick to explain was my very important role in this operation. He'd explained it slowly, several times. Stage one. Shock and awe.

When she entered the room, I was to push the big red button. I shouldn't eat it. I shouldn't play with it. I should push it.

I had explained that police weren't that dumb, and I'd passed the police entrance IQ test with an amazing score of 80 which was much better than I'd done when I flunked out of high school, and he'd explained several more times what to do. I was a good minion!

I pressed the red button. As Amanda slid the door open, a network of electrical cables we had ripped out of the floor and connected to Gordan's chain sparked with electricity. He was standing on a fragment of a toilet, insulated from the charge.

She jerked and spasmed, and I got another good look at her.

**Amanda. 166 HP. Shocked debuff. 33%. **

Gordon raised the gun and fired.

**100 damage done! Halved due to body armor. Cracked ribs debuff. 10%. Amanda. 66HP.**

**Lesser desire for life perk activated.**

**Amanda. 110 HP.**

I was pretty sure the perk was clearing some of her conditions. Maybe 30%. We had more coming. People exaggerated in movies how much you could just shrug off bullets in body armor. She had removed most of the electrical debuff, but she was still wheezing at the powerful hit. Stage two time. Her debuff was drained. Blind and annihilate.

And the lights went off.

I was a cripple. I didn't get to carry the weapons. Gordon did. He, also got to debuff Amanda. Using his insulated hand, he had flicked off the switch. We needed another advantage, so we'd covered up the camera, taken some of the pictures and Jigsaw's clothes, and set up a small fire near the entrance, along with lining the floor with shards of glass so she couldn't dodge around. We were mostly invisible, and she was suddenly in darkness with only a tiny light, just enough to see her outline.

**Darkness debuff! 55 HP left!  
**

She oriented herself quickly, swinging the shotgun up in my direction.

Using the pipe, I hit a ball of glass and toilet shards at her hand.

**Baseball levels up!**

I couldn't stab people. I couldn't wrestle people. But my dexterity was still good, and I could hit a target five feet away.

The shards of glass smashed into her gloves, slicing up her hand and arm. Not much, given the result, but she dropped the gun.

**52**

Meanwhile, Gordon roared, and charged at her with the spear.

**30 damage done! Power strike.**

**22**

The glass blade thrust cleanly through her, piercing her chest. She choked out a bloody breath.

**Killing instinct Perk activated. **

She moved in a sudden burst of speed, pulling out a knife, managing to grab Gordan, just at the edge of his chains, and held the knife to his neck.

She was wounded, winded, and weakened, but with that perk she danced over our traps like they weren't there. She was just barely in the circle of light now, breathing fast, heart racing.

"Move away from Jigsaw or your friend gets it." She ordered. Her hand was wavering, and she drew a thin line of blood across his neck. She wasn't quite sure where I was, the outside light not quite penetrating enough through the thin gap, the fire weak.

Part 3. Cripple.

Gordon drew out a hidden glass shard, and rammed it into her leg. She screamed, and fell to the floor. He shoved her back.

**Power attack. 20 damage done.**

**2 HP left.  
**

I picked up a urinal cake, tossed it up in my hand, and whacked it at her head with a hard hit of the bat.

"Lights out, bitch." It hit her in the head, knocking her down to 0 HP.

**Level up! 10 perk points granted, +1 stat. **

"Is she down for the count?" I said, internally cheering. My first level up! And points, wooo!

"You should check." Said Gordon. That sounded like minion work to me. Go check her pulse, then surprise she stabs you because if you can get one second wind perk why not two?

I went to pick up the shotgun she had dropped, carefully avoiding her.

**Remington Model 1100. A powerful combat ready shotgun. 8/8 rounds, 500 damage per hit. 20/20 durability, 20 armor, +10 damage.**

After that I went to the trailing wires that led to the door and tossed them over her body.

Her eyes opened.

And closed again as she spasmed from powerful bolts of electricity.

I kept it going for a while.

No level up? Exp hadn't even advanced. Pity. I could just keep slapping her awake and sending her under if it did.

I stopped. We were free.

We found a lot of useful stuff on her. Keys, batteries, and a nearby room containing more, including an antidote to the poison that… cop? Maybe. Cop didn't feel right. Whoever had abducted Gordon's wife and daughter. After the phone reset and we were able to connect to a mobile tower not rigged up by Jigsaw, I called Tapp, the obsessed ex detective who had paid me to stalk Gordon and told him what was about to happen, and then called the guy holding Gordon's wife and kids hostages and told him to come get the antidote.

Hopefully Tapp would kill him.

We did something else, and I went back to my apartment, showered, changed, and went to my comfy bed and flopped down on it. It was memory foam, and felt like a marshmellow snuggling all around you. Uncaring of the future, I drank several litres of mountain dew and an entire rotisserie chicken while watching trashy reality tvs from the 2004s or whatever year this was. Then I collapsed and went to sleep.

I was stronger. Faster. I would be getting those stat points. I was more skilled. I was going onwards with fresh power, and this time I would be more ready. Ultimate power, here I come.

* * *

Deep underground in an abandoned toilet, Amanda woke up.

She was handcuffed to a pipe, with Jigsaw's naked body lying in front of her.

She quickly checked his pulse, seeing he was alive, and sighed in relief. She tugged and tried to escape and get away, but found no escape route. Though she did find a chest, buried under some rubble, with a tape recorder in it.

She played it.

"Do I have to do this?" Said Gordon's voice.

"Yes. I will literally only free you if you say what is on this card."

A long sigh emerged

"Wakey wakey, Amanda. All your life you've sought meaning in things. Drugs, love, and now brown nosing a psychopathic serial killer who likes playing with kid's puppets. Right now there is a slow acting poison in Jigsaw's veins. Zep's poison, for the record. You can free him, but you're gonna have to reach deep inside. Seize the guts of the matter. Brown arm your way to victory. Let the games begin. By the way, I mean the keys to your cuffs are up Jigsaw's ass."

"Thank you." The click of a key is heard.

Gordon spoke, his voice angry. "Why you..." the tape cut off.

Amanda was conflicted. She didn't want to do this… but she wanted to live more. And Jigsaw would respect that.

She reached deep, ignoring the foul stench, the blood, the heat. She grasped around, deep inside his guts, and found a key.

She pulled it out, cleaned it off, and used it on her cuffs.

Nothing happened.

Far far away, in a distant apartment, Adam slept happily, the real key to her cuffs cuddled up in his hands, never more comfortable.

* * *

In case you haven't seen Saw films, Amanda did unfair traps with no way to escape.

So, the first film has ended. Soon he shall go to a low effort side world for an adventure, and then after that we'll pick back up in Saw. So you can make any contributions for the perk and world choice chapter which I'll put out soon- the worlds he goes to have to be ones where he's in an unfair and cruel situation, and the perks are utility or advancement generally. Utility perks cost three points, and grant a single narrow area of competency or some useful item, like power attack or lockpick, while advancement perks cost 25 perk points like photography, though that costs fifty since it's advanced apprentice grade and also grants automatic success in all observation rolls up to advanced apprentice level,, and grant a broad area of competence to advance a skill along with some benefits. He could get field medic as an advancement say, meaning he would automatically succeed at all low level field medic tasks for 25 points.

Also, the first chapter is now edited, and baseball is now a skill there, hence why it turned up here. I also added a map of the room, so you can better picture fights.

Dragonbornthesame Halo sounds fun. Maybe he could be near some flood and get to enjoy fighting zombies.

Thorison1080. He'll go with all the skills he learnt and the stat buffs, and have those added onto the body of whoever he is dropped on. So, he'll be better than whoever he is dropped into.

Unoriginalnick. I do try to do something different each time. Thanks for the advice.

Gatling 2745. All your perks have been added, and your world ideas are appreciated. I haven't played outlast, but it does look fun. Little Nightmares I have played, and is a strange game. Resident evil could be fun. Also, your knee stab idea and your trap them ideas were used. Amanda did not like her trap very much.

Dr. Cookie deleter. Saw and Joker do mix well.

DG2. One of Jigsaw's many unfair advantages, and the reason why he has repeatedly beaten the police.

Anyway, any world or perks for the next one should come in reviews. Halo, Outlast, Resident Evil, Little Nightmares, Michigan, Until Dawn, Deadly premonitions, Don't Escape, Half Life have been suggested. I'll have a brief summary scene, and then the chapter after move onto the next world.


	7. Choices choices

I was floating again in the black void. The black void was not so empty now though. Surrounding me were countless lights, calling me out, calling for my aid. First, my many update windows.

**Two traps set, two succeeded. 1 * 3 for irony for Amanda's trap, and 1 * 6 for Jigsaw's trap.**

Ah, Jigsaw. His trap had been a doozy. A true dilemma.

**200 perk points awarded for achieving two goals! Reduced by 75% for dying twice unnecessarily. Stay living.**

That was unfair. **"**The goal in the tape was to survive**. **I did survive against all the traps within, and all the dangers within, but was murdered externally by Jigsaw and Amanda. Your judgement is unfair, almighty dungeon master. Also, Gordon was fine, my deaths shouldn't count against that goal."

There was a long pause of consideration from the black void around me, and a new pop up appeared.

**Argument accepted. 150 perk points awarded. You attacked Jigsaw in the second loop, and pay a penalty for that. Go for the king, you better make sure he swings.**

I will make sure Jigsaw swings next time I go for him. I wasn't sure if I could kill him. Maybe if I got a powerful gun skill and a lot of firepower.I had seen that stat debuffs could make even the mighty vulnerable, but he seemed tough.

**15 levels of observation awarded for use of the observation skill! No levels of stealth awarded, because you never used stealth.**

Harsh, but true. The system was harsh and cruel, but seemed to be fair, at least.

I went to open my stat screen, and found a surprise.

**Name: ?**

**Job: Gamer**

**Level: 1**

**Level: 1 (0/100)**

**Title. Pipeslayer**

**HP: ?**

**Stamina: ?**

**Strength: +2**

**Constitution: +2**

**Dexterity: +2**

**Intelligence: +3**

**Wisdom: +4**

**Luck: 0**

**One point available. **

**Skills**

**First aid level 1 0/100 exp**

**Scavenge, level 12, 39/100 exp**

**Observation, level 15, 0/100 exp**

**Baseball, level 3, 10/100 exp **

**Crafting level 1 0/100 exp**

Where to allocate that point. And I was no longer Adam. I was back in my own beautiful body. I kissed my hands and feet happily, returned to the best body.

I checked my perk screen.

**271 perk points available. **

**All perks below are at apprentice level. The grades are apprentice, advanced apprentice, journeyman, master, grandmaster. All perks of a higher grade automatically nullify any lower grade perks, or untrained skill uses. **

**Crafting perks**

**Shoddy Craftsman. You can make simple tools out of common household objects, with a single common property. 25 points. **

**Trap novice. You can make simple traps out of common household objects, with a single common property. 25 points.**

**Scavenging perks**

**Gacha. The will to seek and find, even in a sparse place. You find one extra common item a day to use for whatever purposes you wish. Constant between deaths. Every week you can find one uncommon item, and greater items await if you can survive longer. The timer starts as soon as you enter a world. 3 points.**

**Packrat. You are skilled at holding objects, and can always find a way to balance or hold items, if your strength and materials permit it. Once a day you can draw out a common storage object. 3 points.**

**Observation perks**

**Dungeon eye. You can competently see traps, tricks, and hidden areas, and could earn a living as an adventurer. 25 perk points.**

**Outside the box. Gain one common hint to any trap you are trapped in, revealing a course of action or a solution to some aspect of it. Can be used once a day, and will will not vary between deaths. 3 points. **

**Picture perfect. You can observe any object or sound or sense under a minute long, and perfectly commit it to memory. No more need to rely on tape recorders! 3 points.**

**Death's Calling. Gain an unnatural chill whenever a deathly intent is near. Works once an hour. Grants +2 wisdom for the sake of detecting deathly intent. 3 points.**

**First aid perks**

**Medical scrub. You have a basic understanding of the human body, and automatically succeed at treating any common conditions. You can get a job as a nurse. 25 points.**

**Poison maniac. You're resistant to common poisons, and once a day can find a common poison on your person. 3 points.  
**

**Baseball perks. **

**Local expert. You're pretty good at baseball. You can dominate the local field, and earn a modest salary as a sports teacher. 25 points.**

**Power attack. The will to destroy. Focus your will and hate and unleash it against a target in range. Does double damage at the cost of 2 stamina, and causes a critical hit if focused on a weak point. 3 perk points. **

**?**

**?/ Number one/ two minion. When you follow through on orders you gain a +2 stat bonus. In addition, once a day you can gain 1 or more rep from succeeding exceptionally on supporting your leader in a task. 3 points. **

**Constitution perks.**

**Fast food skin. Your excessive consumption of fast food has left you obese, with +2 constitution per level and greasy skin that is hard to grab onto. 3 points. **

**Desperate struggle. Your will to fight, to live, to stay alive in the face of terrible injuries. Regain 10 HP and remove 10% of a stat debuff. Can cause long term damage, and is only useable once per month, requiring substantial rest to heal. 6 points.**

**Supernatural perks.**

**Air mastery. 50 perk points. Gain a basic mastery of air. You can summon enough air for a breath for one stamina, and manipulate it in minor ways for one stamina a second.**

**Earth mastery. 50 perk points. Gain a basic mastery of earth. You can manipulate in minor ways as much unworked earth as you could hold in a hand for one stamina a second.**

**Final death. 2 perk points.**

**Fire mastery. 50 perk points. Gain a basic mastery of fire. You can summon enough fire as a candle for one stamina, and manipulate it in minor ways for one stamina a second.**

**Gamer's body. 100 perk points. Gain a basic form of the gamer's body. All healing is 100% faster, and you have a reduced need for food and water. All physical stat debuffs are reduced by 10%**

**Gamer's mind. 100 perk points. Gain a basic form of the gamer's mind. All mental healing is 100% faster, and you have a reduced need for sleep. All mental stat debuffs are reduced by 10%.**

**Inventory. 100 perk points. A basic form of an inventory, with 8 slots. Works between deaths and worlds. **

**Lockpicking. 3 points. You can once a day find a common lockpick and use it skillfully enough to defeat common locks. **

**Magic user. 100 perk points. You gain access to the ability to use spells, rituals, and potions. Need magical components to perform.**

**Ninja body. 100 perk points. You gain access to the ability to enhance your body with chi. Use 10 stamina a second to enhance your physical stats by 50%. **

**Super strength. 50 points. You can produce temporary feats of super strength, beyond that of normal humans. Once an hour, at the cost of 10 health, gain +20 strength for one action. **

**Water mastery. 50 perk points. Gain a basic mastery of earth. You can manipulate in minor ways as much water as you could hold in your mouth for one stamina a second.**

It looks like perks were not so permanent. I could swap them in.

I checked out my world choices. I had a lot of options. I got a sense I would be returning to Saw 2 when it said.

**Pick a world, before you return to Saw 2!**

In the meantime, each of the distant golden or shining points called to me.

**Alien Isolation, Halloween, Friday the 13th. Child's Play, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Final Destination, Dead Space, Until Dawn, Halo, Outlast, Resident Evil, Little Nightmares, Michigan, Until Dawn, Deadly premonitions, Don't Escape, Half Life, Nightmare on Elm Street, IT, Scream.**

But first, I sat down for a think.

I was a lot smarter now. 8 was the base int I had in Saw 1, and I am pretty sure I was above that. I don't know if they tracked to IQ tests. But I wasn't 80 IQ, and I had remembered more about the Saw films before I had been dropped in. I had to remember that. I should plan out a course of action for a world before I got there. I might be dropped into a meat sack with less processing power.

I was notably smarter than I had been before I had come to this world. +2 int and +4 wisdom might not sound like a lot, but everything was a lot clearer. I needed to plan for the other Saw films, if they arrived, and any of these worlds.

There was also the luck issue. I had been 1 luck when I was there. I was pretty sure that's why I had to be on the sidelines. I was fighting against destiny trying to do it on my own skills. Should I spend my stat point augmenting luck? Or try and improve my general skill set?

Regardless, I needed to get stronger. Much stronger. Saw 2 onwards was where it got to be torture porn and where Amanda started being herself more and I needed to be ready.

* * *

Soon he shall advance forward to his vacation home. Do post any build ideas or suggested worlds, and we can see where he goes. Horror films are ideal.

Dragonbornthesam. Thanks for the suggestions. The last two are comedies though, aren't they? He's not that lucky. I need to get him injured more so he can get fancy perks like that. Saw 2 should be great for that.

Tetsujinvinalay. Maybe. It was a fun game, and it would be a pretty good low level grind for him.

DG2. We do all want to live a life under the sea.

Dr. Cookie Deleter. Yeah, he could get a lot of rewards from Deadspace, but it's a really horrible place to be with no plot armor. And so, perfect for him.

Sansas22. It is added, and a fun potential place to go. With his luck, let's see what his final destination is.

Thanks Gatling 2745. Your perks and worlds are a large percentage of my total number.

Zackman2k12. Thank you, and thanks for reading.

The Realization. Yes. A mixture of horror, adventure, and a deep and penetrating connection between Kramer and Amanda.

Pinkpuffy69. I am not sure where he will end up. He may end up in the real world, in horror land, eternally dead, in zombieland. Many options.

In terms of weight of public opinion, I am going to make the final decision of course, but reviews are weighed heavily in my decision as to where he goes. Little Nightmares, Resident Evil, Halo, Friday the 13th, and Don't Escape are popular options.


	8. I'm sorry!

Content warning. Cannibalism, gore, it gets real. Also, I is stuck in a mentally ill corpse's body, and has to deal with the consequences of that for a while. Skip ahead two chapters if you want to skip past most of that.

* * *

I had a lot of choices, but I knew what i needed.

More combat was coming up in his future. I needed to be stronger. I needed to be able to build traps and defenses, break locks, I needed to have his core stats be stronger. In the long run I had a standard plan I had set up for the future.

I wanted to save the world. One day, I could return from the Sawverse with immense powers. What would I be able to do with them? If I just focused on pure trap breaking and durability I might well survive, but I wouldn't thrive. I wanted to be immortal. To be able to fix the world for the better with science or magic. To shield his family and friends and class from the mad predations of horrible otherworldly entities with weird intentions. For that i needed to pick his worlds well. I needed to balance immediate physical improvements with long tech enhancements in technology.

Little nightmares was an option. That was some creepy game where you played a kid in a yellow rain jacket on a city of cannibals. I could probably totally do that, it was a game with kinda simple puzzles, but it didn't offer much chance for you to improve your combat skills. I could probably do more crafting, but everyone was massive in it. You were a midget. Maybe when i was stronger. I could be the one to kill and eat the rich. With stronger stats adding onto those tiny puny bodies, i could rip through that ship and claim all the power within. Not today though.

Halo was another option. I could load up on survival stuff and try to get some equipment. I was pretty sure that no matter how tough Jigsaw was, he wasn't as tough as a plasma rifle, or a spartan laser, or the Forward Onto Dawn. That seemed a bit high level for him though. I worried I'd get caught in a death spiral, or that a flood entity would be able to take control of him, complete the mission, and go on to annex the multiverse. I wanted to be a bit tougher before I went into mind control central.

Deadspace had the same issues. Again, powerful equipment, but a bit overlevelled for him. Super future sci fi and all, and those weird crystals that made you insane and mutated you. The markers. With his luck I would probably be put in the body of someone about to be infected.

Don't Escape was intriguing, but I didn't remember the plotline that well, and it was a crapshot if I'd get anything useful.

Friday the 13th was definitely an option, as a slasher flick, but it wouldn't let him develop his future options much. One tough foe.

One option stood above all others. Resident Evil. It was a shooter horror where the umbrella corporation made mad science because they could. Great chance to kill and level up, lots of low level threats. Whatever poor schmuck I got dropped into, I could avoid the big bads and grind. Even if I got shitty perk points it would be a great chance to develop his skills against zombies and monster trash and steal hyper advanced technology. I'd played most of the games and seen the movies, so I should be pretty good.

An advanced shotgun would be really nice in Saw.

Inventory, Gamer Mind. I ticked off the two choices.

If I got eaten by zombies I expected to die. Healing a little faster wouldn't save him. Gamer body could wait. Gamer's mind was only at the apprentice level, and was only a 10% reduction in debuffs, but every little helped. It would help the mind control aspects. There was mind control there as well, but it was generally less overt than Halo or Deadspace.

I then ticked off Trap Novice, Dungeon eye. Two powerful perks that would give him the ability to make traps well and see well. Photography had been an op over leveled perk, but seeing well really was a boon, and with time and traps many zombies could be slain. I had 21 points left.

Death's calling, Gacha, Packrat, Power attack, Desperate Struggle.

One choice left. I could go for poison maniac. I wasn't sure if zombies would be vulnerable to poison though. Fast food skin, but then I wouldn't be sexy. Picture perfect was a solid option. Outside the box, for trap solving, another solid.

"Divine sky god, may I have a coin to flip to pick?" I called out to the uncaring void.

"Divine sky god? All consuming monster? The void that shall not be named." Maybe I shouldn't piss off the gaming system.

**Wisdom check 10/10 succeeded.**

No, fuck you gaming system. You don't get to inject ideas into my head with your common sense checks.

"Mutant Lord. Moderator. You bastard. Saw Daddy. Give me my coin. I had one in my wallet as Adam. You can keep it after."

A coin dropped into my hand. An American… what were the small American coins. Quarters? Cents? I don't know.

I flipped it. Tails. Picture perfect it was.

And into Resident Evil.

Who would I be?

**Name: Mia Winters**

**Job: Babysitter**

**Level: 1**

**Level: 1 (0/100)**

**Title. Scientist. Research is 100% faster.**

**HP: 30**

**Stamina: 35**

**Strength: 40**

**Constitution: 30**

**Dexterity: 30**

**Intelligence: 25**

**Wisdom: 5**

**Luck 1**

Those were some monstrous stats, and that was before they got buffed up. All the stat points I had gotten from Saw 1 I could feel enhancing me. My body growing with each step.

I wanted more luck. I really did. But, not yet. I could get to 10 wisdom with the stat point there. Observational awareness was more important. If I could get luck up to a decent level, sure, but I couldn't.

Her skill list was locked. Aw. As was her perk list.

Oh well. I had no idea who she was. Maybe some random zombie? Or someone in one of the later games? I hadn't played the more modern ones.

I ticked accept, and stared at the glowing portal to RE land. It flowed towards me, growing larger, to the form of a massive zombie, as tall as the eiffel tower, who stamped down onto me.

I woke up to someone grabbing my shoulder, and turning me over.

"Thank god I found you! It's me, Ethan."

I looked up and saw an attractive blonde man. That was an odd sensation from my body, me being a straight man- oh, yeah. Body sensations.

**Ethan Winters**

Oh. So we were married? I wondered if it was my maiden name or his. I guess we were some sort of crime fighting duo? Well, even if the game was gonna force some lovey dovey emotions on me, I could accomplish the missions. We were in some sort of dingy basement and I was on a filthy looking bed.

I smiled. "Hi, Ethan! Thank god you're here."

He looked me up and down.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

**Mental disruption connected. Gamer mind, purging.**

**K̸͙͙͚̭̐̅͋̂̀̔̒̓̕͝ͅi̶̢̧̜̞̺̬̳̭̮͉͍̥͎̝̥̫̓̆̌͂̐̅̉̄̕͝ḽ̸̭͖̺̗̘̖̙́̒͛̃̃̐̔̚l̴̨̛̦͚̗̰͙̥̞͈̘͙̑͂̈́̎̓͐ ̶̢̛͔̗̯̳̜̫͊͐̌̌̊̕͠Feę̴̡̨̛̛̯̠̼̙͍̰̭͎̫̠̙̲͍̋̽̀̓̿͋̓͋̓̋̌͘͠ͅd̶̰̭̗͇̥̱̗̍͗̉ͅ ̷͙͙͉͖͚͋͒́Mur̵̛̠̯̻̺̞͔̉͐̋̎̾̊͆͝d̷̛̛̙̱̯̹̭̺̘̃͗͗͂́͆̈́̀͂̍̉͝ͅè̸̢͙̪̻̘͓̜͇̘̹͛̀̉͊̅͐̋̀͐͗͛̚̚͘̚ͅr̶̢̡̛͓̦̯͉̰̱̗̳̭̪͍͆͋̈́̔̈́̉̄̂̈́̿̊̃̆͌̽̕ ̵̛͓̞̜̻̭̣̜̓̌̐͊̂̊̏̈Flȅ̸̡̱̫̦͛͋͑̈́̾̂̄̇̄̉̓͆͝ş̴̨̛̯͔̰̩͚̣͔̪̓͗͗̊̏͛̚͜͠͝ͅh̶̟̩̠̼̼̱͓̟̞̣̲̫̱́͌̑̿̎̈́ ̸̨̦͙͉͕̺͉͚̩̮̯̗̞̳̉̒̊͐͌̈́̎̂̓̚̚̚h̴̛͍͙̅̒́̆͒̚͠ų̷̢̠̼̰̝̤̞̗̥͇̘̽̇͋̃̔̅̇̅̿̑͋ngr̷̨̧͎̫͍̙͖͎̥̰̔͜y̷̞̫̬̭̟̫̫͙͓̩͚̪͉̪͈̠͋̈́̈́**

Well, that was ominous.

"Not my best, but nothing really worth complaining about hubbie. What brings you here?" I asked, hoping to get some backstory. My identities came with a few memories, but not enough to do much. Some addresses, some phone numbers.

**Mental combat initiated. Stand by. **

**I w̷̖̬̰̞͙̟͋̏̔̔͆͊̓î̵̟͎̼̘̮͕̘̑̀̆̈̉̉͊͂͗̑̊̊̕̚̚͝l̴̡̮̦̮̟̣̈́̐̿̊͛͜ͅͅl̷̨̧̧̛͖̼̼̓̆̐̅͐̅̏̄͝ͅ ̸̛̠̩̠̥̯̰͕̲̗̙́̇͋͂̋̔̔n̸͉̅͛̈́̈́̂̈̓́̋̆͊͂͘ot ̸̨̨̛̤͔͔͒͂̉͛̍́͘͝ͅb̷̧̥̞̤̮̱̠̦̬̖̭̬͂̏͌́̈̃̔̀͌̒̉͘̚͝ͅͅĕ̸̟̰͇͓̹̜̭͎̞̝̪͐ͅ ̵̢̥̯̣̗̺̣̦̦̲͚̮̮̂̽̇̄̑̾͗̋̒͠ͅd̵̞͓͚̳̩̰͓͕̫̙̗̜̟̞̦̫́̈́̆̓̈́̔͊̄̒̈́͗̀̕͘ę̴̡̰͍̯̦̥͎̪̠̙͇͍̟͍̹̩̄̿͌nied̶̤̦̱͈̤̦̭̪̥͇̠̞̮̗̻̔̊͐͂̽̒̏̂͒̾̓͗͋̿̃͝**

Zalgo text. That really made it hard to read. Creepy.

"You invited me."

I pointed my finger at him.

"Yes, yes, I did. Dehydration. Remind me please, what did I say?"

"To come here- I'm so glad I found you." He leaned down, hugging me. I felt safe.

**Link purged. Foreign presence eliminated.**

**Denied.**

Yay, I won.

**Uncontrolled mutations condition activated. By eliminating the psychic force controlling you, you have opened your body up to freely mutate and change. Duration, infinite. **

Oh shit. I felt my body move, out of control of me. I bit into Ethan's shoulder, tearing away some flesh.

He backed away, holding up his chain cutter defensively.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm sorry my love. I can't stop it." I advanced forward, predatory, hungry. I could feel my need to rip into him, to fuel powerful mutations. I couldn't control it.

I lunged at him. He grabbed my arm, and I leaned my head forward, opening wide, trying to get a bite of his flesh.

"I'm sorry!" I cried out again. I knew objectively this was ok. I was in insane zombie mode, I'd heal from that, but I didn't want to kill him. I wouldn't be taking over the multiverse.

He rammed his elbow repeatedly into my face. My thoughts started to get fuzzy, but my hunger grew greater.

"It's the disease. It's controlling me. I can't stop it!" I cried out, as I lunged forward to try and rip at his arm.

"Try harder." He commanded.

"I can't…" I felt my heart race, and spoke. "Please, kill me. Save yourself."

He knocked me aside, pinned me to the wall, and jammed the chain cutter into my eye. Pain exploded through me as part of my vision went black.

"Just end it! Please." I cried out, as my hand lashed at his chest, bloodying him.

"I'm sorry! I don't want to hurt you any more." I said, as I, with a shove, tossed him across the room, like a ball. He bounced like one too. I was strong.

He grunted as he fell to the floor, and I advanced. I gripped the door, as my body tried to live.

"No, I won't do it!" I started to ram my head into the wall repeatedly, forcing back control as the sharp agony burnt my brain.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." I cried out, as my life started to fade.

**Disease resistance leveled up! Through an act of will to save a loved one, you have gained some innate resistance to diseases!**

And then I collapsed.

I woke up, two eyes open, to a sharp pain in my chest. Inventory. I needed to focus on what I had. Assets.

I was on a table, lying on something squishy. It smelt of blood, shit, and death. Behind me was an old man, with a beer glass. To my right was male teen, to my left an older woman. They all looked decrepit. There was a corpse, by side.

"And with her connection severed, she's off no more use to us. Eat up."

I tried to get up, but the old man grabbed me. I strained against him, pitting my greater than human strength against his. He easily overcame me, grabbed my hair, and slammed my head against the table. He was so strong. It felt like wrestling with a truck.

"Stop fighting, bitch." He said, and spat at me. Then the boy grabbed at my chest, stabbing through flesh and muscle and fat, ripping out an intestine . He began to eagerly chew, blood dripping out. The sensation was agonizing.

The woman grabbed my hand from the man, and started biting and ripping. Everything was agony.

Then I saw him. Ethan. At the other end of the table. I had to- I had to do something.

As my hand was ripped apart and eaten by the woman, as my blood dripped down to mix with the entrails of others they had eaten, I pulled on all of my brutish strength, and smashed my bloody arm stump into her.

**Power strike! 30 damage! **

She was tossed across the room, smashing into the wall, cracking through it. For a moment, the man above me looked aside, and I managed to yank my hand away. I used my Gacha perk, summoning a common object. In my other, intact hand, a toothbrush materialized. I rammed it into the teen's eye, staggering him back.

**Power Strike! Critical hit! 180 damage!**

At least I was no longer doing shitty base human damage. Holding my bleeding intestines in with one hand, I went to find Ethan tied up.

"I'll save you." I said. And I lunged forward, and bit into his neck, ripping out sweet blood and delicious delicious life force. I ripped into him, saying sorry repeatedly, my hunger even stronger with my bloody chest.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." I kept saying, as he died and I ate his delicious body.

Then I felt a hand on my neck, as someone yanked me away, and smashed me into the floor.

"You do not hit my wife!" Said the older man, as he repeatedly smashed me into the floor. "Only I do that!" I felt my vision start to fade as he dropped my bloody body on the floor.

I heard him, in the distant say to feed, and felt teeth and bites on my body. I felt my eyes regenerate, and saw the corpse of Ethan, his blonde hair matted with blood, his neck ripped out. "I'm sorry..." I said, as I died.

* * *

So, zombie stories. I love them. Like Jigsaw does with people in Saw, you turn friends and family members against each other, forcing you to consider, could you kill your mother, your lover, your boss. How would you feel if they tried to kill you?

The top option by far was RE by 5 votes, but don't worry, we can go to other places later.

Notably, if the SI hadn't been greedy and had taken gamer body, they would be immune to low grade body snatching. But then they wouldn't be able to steal all the sweet RE loot. Including a power fist. Choices and consequences. What's a little death and cannibalism when you have loot drops in play?

Also, in terms of why she's facing mental consequences when Adam didn't, Adam wasn't mentally ill, and gamer's mind is only level one of 5. Level 5 gamer's mind, grandmaster, is like the one in the Gamer Story. He was a bit different piloting Adam, but not quite so controlled.

Zav11237. Yes, taking the gamer body would be a good idea. And is for the future. But, the hard choice is often needed to help you develop.

Dragonbornthesam. I went for exactly what you said!

DG2. They're an above average super soldier.

Sanas22. I chose for you, don't worry.

Toobad69. Silent Hill will be in the options next time. Glad you like it. And no, I had intended to do a zombie story, but my previous idea was Halo. But, the latest RE game looks great.

Gatling2745. I'll message you soon and get the details, and thanks for all your help. And thanks for the poison issue, I'll edit it in.

JakeWJElliott2. Halo is cool, and thanks, I think it's a first.

Guest. Dead space is very hard, especially with no combat skills, but he would love some of the tools.

IncognitoMinerals. he now has an inventory and can loot all the cool RE tech, and he went for wisdom so he could have situational awareness.

Zackman2k12. If he managed to take over a Halo or Deadspace battleship maybe. I am thinking of a perk to allow him to temporarily take his true form.

ArchieElite. SCP is awesome, and will be on the next list. Pirates is an option, but I don't want to do too much work changing the tone on what is a side story.

Righello Di'Tutti. You do need more luck to live, and she did not. He wants to get a major boost to luck, which means lots of stat points which means many level ups or special quests or lucky events. But for now, he has to deal with bad luck.

Thorison1080. All the cannibalism worlds! Little nightmares would be great later. At the moment it would be kinda dull. He'd just mostly follow the canon path and avoid messing things up too much because he doesn't have the power to break free.

SavageGod. I do read lots of gamerfics, but this is pretty unique as far as I know. I haven't read any other Gamer fics like it.

Anyway, since I haven't actually played RE 7 but am watching a walkthrough, any fun ideas of what to do in there are appreciated in reviews.


	9. Peak sawing achieved

I was so hungry. I reached forwards, and went to bite into the rich chest before me. I tore with powerful teeth into flesh, tasting sweet blood. I sucked down an intestine, draining it hungrily, the taste ever so delicious, my urges all consuming.

I looked up at Ethan. "I'm sorry-" He stabbed me in the neck with that cutter, again and again, and I faded. And again, I was eaten.

I died, and died, and died again. Sometimes I sneaked off, sometimes I managed to hold back the instincts long enough to run away, but I was always caught. They knew this place better than me, were stronger, faster. I died and died and died again.

I went insane with the pain of killing and dying a loved one again and again, and gamer's mind dragged me back to lucidity, to the knowledge that I was again killing Ethan.

And each time, disease resistance leveled up. Stealth leveled up as well.

It slowed down as I leveled up. The first ten levels took ten loops. The next ten took twenty…

I couldn't escape it. My body's instincts were overwhelming, and even my mind wasn't safe, the safety of a gamer's mind capsizing in the storm of pain and love and death and hunger.

I killed Ethan. I was killed, again and again. I couldn't be put down by brute force, but the family- and I could tell they were a family, they told me often enough how I had betrayed them by leaving them,- would capture me wherever I went. The smell and taste of his flesh called me even through that, and I never was coherent enough to stop myself for long. I tore my own eyes out, trying to protect myself from seeing him, but I woke wake up from a haze, a sharp pain in my head as my eyes grow back, the rich smell of blood in my mouth.

The last ninety were the slowest. As I stalked through the crumbling house they ticked up ever so slowly, longer than the previous ninety levels had taken combined.

I wish it was all a blur, but it wasn't. Whether it was my intelligence, which I was pretty sure was a lot higher than my own body's, or the photographic memory perk, I remembered every one of my 1024 deaths, and his 30 deaths. He escaped me, or beat me up a lot. Ethan was competent.

All this flashed through my head as I woke up again, his hand on my shoulder.

**Level 100 disease resistance reached! You get a free perk choice. Your disease resistance evolves into disease control! 1% chance of resisting even uncommon mutations.**

**Level 92 stealth reached. Almost there!**

And I didn't turn. My mutation condition that had turned me wasn't triggering.

I got up quickly. "We have to get out of here. How did you get here?" I asked, as a new pop up appeared.

**Semi controlled uncommon mutations. Whilst slower, and more uncommon, these mutations will slowly turn you into an insane beast so long as you are within a mutation zone.**

Crap. I needed to get out.

**You have gained 1 int for a cutting insight you should have had 1024 loops ago. ** Fuck you, game.

I quickly summoned my status screen, as he spoke to me. Maybe one would let me delay diseases?

**Zombie bite! You can inflict a controlled infection on someone, passing on a disease you have. With greater disease control-**

No, don't want it. Might hurt Ethan.

**Zombie spit! You can spit a glob of toxic disease fluids, likely infecting-**

No again.

**Zombie eyes. You can sense infections. More powerful infected may be able to hi-**

Thank you, environmental mastery. I selected it and replayed mentally what he had said.

"Yes, back there." He had pointed to behind him and his right. "But the ladder is broken."

I nodded. "Don't worry, I can fix it. Let's go." I grabbed his hand and yanked him forward.

"We need to get out of here. Daddy- super zombie master- is coming. I'm also a zombie but a good one."

He looked skeptical, as I dragged him away.

"Zombies? You don't look like a zombie."

"Don't be racist, honey, we don't all look the same." I dragged him onwards through- I don't know, a decrepit underground mancave or something. Wisdom wasn't my best stat and my observation was shit. There was a toilet, there was junk lying around, the walls were packed in with wood.

Then a wall appeared.

"Err." I said.

"Under it." he gestured.

"Yes." I was good at following orders. Maybe I should have taken that special leadership perk.

I crawled under the disgusting smelling water, and bumped into a corpse- I nudged it away.

Then as I emerged, something in my nose twisted. I looked in front of me and saw Ethan. I remember that moment in Madagascar when Alex the lion was hungry and had seen Marty the Zebra and he looked like a steak. I related right now. I was pretty sure the gamer's mind was taking the edge off it, but that only reduced it by 10%. It was getting stronger. A more powerful voice, telling me to murder and eat him.

I needed to stop it. I staggered to a wall. The ladder up. It was broken. He couldn't carry me. I need more time. I pushed my greater intellect to it's limits, feeling my brain burn as I tried to find a solution that didn't mean me having to incinerate myself to protect Ethan.

**Int check succeeded. 29/14. The prime vector of the infection seems to be through smell. Perhaps a pheremone based delivery system? Priming the emotional sectors of your brain to kill and eat, overriding the rational segments. For more than doubling an important check, you gain a new piece of information. A****utoinducer pheromones ****are used, and the local density of mutamycete is what dictates the strength of mind control.**

So, it was my sense of smell?

"Give me the chain cutters." I said to Ethan.

"What?"

"Give them to me now. I can't hold it back much longer. I'm sorry. GIVE THEM TO ME."

He handed me the thick, red chain cutters.

I turned them back to my face, and wrapped them around my nose.

"What are you doing-" He asked, horrified.

I ripped my nose off. Blades that were meant to cut through steel cut through cartilage like a hot knife through butter. Hot blood spurted out, but quickly cut off.

**Disease control levels up! Disease control levels up! Disease control levels up!**

"Smell based zombie virus." I said, holding one hand to my ripped off nose. "It'll grow back. Come on!"

I tossed the bloody appendage aside and stamped on it- I knew from experience body parts could reconnect in the strangest of places. The ladder was broken. Why did I say come on?

**Wisdom check failed. 10/12**

I needed a way out.

"I heal fast, I'm super strong, I'm smart. How do we get out of here?" He seemed to be on board.

I looked around. What could I use. Pipes? There was a corpse. Maybe I could fashion one of the bones or two into pick axes? Or maybe I could toss him up. He could let down something for me to climb down? When I failed wisdom checks, destroying things helped. Could I knock down a hole somehow? Smash a way up?

"Can you climb the pipes?" He asked.

Ah. Wisdom. Why build a tower when you can climb the pipes? I fear my racism against pipes was holding me back. I was the Pipeslayer.

"Yes!" I said. "Hold onto me."

He held onto my shoulder. I used my superior zombie strength to pull myself up, hauling my way out- and the local disease density started to increase.

A booming voice came behind them.

"You thought you could just slip out before dinner was done?"

I gasped. "It's daddy Zombie. I need to go faster." I really wished I'd taken the minion perk now.

I hauled myself up, and was almost at the entrance when-

He grabbed my foot. I felt my bones crack and break as his superhuman strength squeezed them. I kicked at him hard, but he just grinned. Ethan kicked as well, to no effect.

"This is the end, you know?"

"No it's not. This is Saw." I said. With inhuman strength, I pulled him and my leg up, and swayed down, one hand holding the chain cutter. I pushed it around my ankle, and tore it off. He hung there by a tendril of flesh.

Ethan kicked him again, and the flesh ripped and 'Daddy' fell to the floor, with a grunt.

**Saw hidden quest unlocked! You've removed your first ankle. Gain one free perk relating to amputation. Gain 1 constitution!**

"You really are-" He said, looking nervous.

"I'm still your Mia. Just with upgrades. Let's get out.

There was a constant, stabbing agony from my face. My heel burnt, like a thousand burning needles being repeatedly shoved into my flesh. It was shitty.

I just didn't care. I had endured worse, and would endure more to survive.

I pulled us up into the house, and staggering forward on my jagged stump, leaning on Ethan for support, I headed forwards.

Suddenly, the disease concentration spiked.

I̶̖̊̾̔̇͜ ̴͇̘̝̪͔͈̗̻̣͔̽͌̏̂̒͗̓̏͘͘s̵͈̮̟͌́̽̓̚ȩ̸͉̲͇̩͑̋͛̀̏̕̕͝e̶̡̤̻̣̙̿̔̐͂͂̍̈́̎͗͝ ̶̖̝̯͙̺̜̙̱͔̰̼̋͊̈̈́̈́͒͑͝ẙ̵̩̱̗͔͈͇̘̻̒̽̈́̒̀̍͌͜͠o̸̭̣̜̽͐͝u̷̢̧͍͍̤̦̤͚͚͈̞̎ ̸̧̧̛̹̰͕̣̜̣͖̺̫̀̾t̵̠͇̞̩̐̃̋͐͂̃̔́͘r̵̝̱̩̠̮̱̬̄̃̓͠ẙ̷̢̰̞̣͖̱͈͎̭̆̋̽̽̉͂̆i̷̡͎͚͎̤̠̟̲̗̭̳͑n̷͇͇̼͇̞̏̔͆͛͗̐̎̿͊̉g̴̢̢̰̞̬̗͎͙̪̱̐̉͐ ̵̩̙̙̬̞͚͌̇̇̔͌͊͂̈́͘t̴͓̯̂̔̏̊̑̓ǫ̶̣̼͎̹̙̀͂̒͆̋̂̏ ̴̰̹̭̹͙̖͉̬͔̪̥͋̍́̿̊̀̕͝ŗ̶̜͙̥̟͇̟͙͍͉̈́̀̇̌̆̐͆͊͝ͅu̶͎̖̓̀̓͌͌̄͋̚n̵̠̥͕̾̆́̽͌́͆,̷̧̗̱̺̣͕̔̍̃͐̿͂̑͘ ̷̨̩̩̈́̚m̴̨̟̝̪̺͉̥̖̊̊̒̃̂̈́͂̓̒o̵̢̮͖̻̼̞̱̾̈́̅͂̋̄m̸̺̺̬̓̈́̊̚̕͝ͅm̴̩̠̲̹̦̫͎̥͉̓̃̉̄͒y̵̢̩̗̜̪͈̬̦̮͗̔̇̋̂̈̇̋̀͒.̷̬̤͈̮̞̦̇͂̓̄͛͆ͅ ̶̞͕̠̝̍̅̚̕̕͜ͅI̸̳͖̭̙̠͉̩̦͓͉̒̆̏̐͌͆͋̈́͠ ̷̼͆͊̃̓̃̽̀͒w̵̘̝̭̕o̶͓͚̟̮͔̺͊̄̓̕n̴̼̬̜̼͓̓͂̒͐͑̐̋͗̚͝'̸̡̢̯̺̜̼͔̝̫͍̪̒t̴̻̹̦̘̯͎͇͔̽͆ ̵̪̝̞͎̳̖͚̺̫̟͕̅̅̾̕̕l̴̪̗̪̫̯̯̤̝̳̓̀̀̒̆̿̀̔̏̓͠ë̶̠̬͚͔́̊t̵̫͌̆̽͑̓͑͂ ̸̡̥͎͍̞͇̝͇̻͓͒̿̇̄͑̍̓̔̕ͅt̵̥͕͖̳͌̓̐͊̐͘ḩ̶͈̣̹̗̺͍̮́̑̓́̉̾͆͝͝ͅä̸͉̠̬́̋̇t̴̲̞͇̬̫̂͒̂͒̂̈́̿͠ ̴̧̯͎͎̣̖͚͔͂͒͜͝ͅh̴̪̰̱̤̱͙̱̎́͛͌̏͘ă̴͓̄̑̆̀̈́́̀ṗ̶̣̮̣̈́͘ͅp̴̧͙͓̞͔̰̪͙͚͒̒̈̒e̵̪̼̦͉̳̱̓̒͂̐͛n̵̹͎̠̠̝̊ͅ.̴̰̟̳̭̼̫̦̯̆̑͒ ̴̛͍͈͓̠̀̓̐̋̅͆͝͝͝͝

Shit. It was here.

"We need to move it! You have our car?" I asked.

He nodded.

"Who is it?"

"Super magical queen infection zombie." I had no fucking clue.

**Mental combat initiated. Gamer mind attempting to fight off incursion. **

We got out of the house. We were in some swamp. I staggered forward. I needed to move faster. I focused my will, my desire, to heal quickly. I could control the disease. I would escape with Ethan. Family was all that mattered. Fuck the world. Families made it, and they would remain whatever else came. My leg wet, gooey, in flux. I used that. We would not be stopped.

** Constitution check 31/30 succeeded. You have grown a new foot.**

I felt increasingly hungry, as my own body's fat reserves were tapped to regenerate me. Like a cancer growing beneath my skin, the foot ripped it's way out of the bloody gap, and I stood firm. I started dragging Ethan faster until-

A girl stood in front of me. Black haired, pallid skin, creepy green eyes. Images of every horror film with a creepy kid in it flashed before my eyes.

"Not today Satan!" I said, lashing out with the chain cutter. It went through it like a mist. I shook my head.

"What was it?" He asked.

"Magic Zombie hallucinations. Some creepy girl." I said.

**Ī̵̢̡̙̟̞͉̳̞̞̖'̷̧̼̞̘̌͛́̿͒̔̕͘m̴̘̭̥̼̟͇͇̓̄ ̶̛̠͔̳̆̆a̸̛̫͂̀͛̚͝ş̵̬̻̺͍̞̜̼̂̾̏͛̾́̚s̸̢̙̰͕̀͐́͋̒̿͛̀͜͜͠͝ͅủ̵̧̼̭̲̞̠̈̅̾m̴̦̦̖̜͚̱̼͓͙̝͌̓̆͘͜į̶̦̬̰͇̯͉̗̣̄̒̍͛̈́͆̚͘n̴̛̤͙͐̀̉̒͌̋͝g̴̯̮̟̱̑͋̂͐͂͒͌̏̇̚͜͠ ̶̨̺͎̱̯̪̘͇͖̆̓͋̄͛̑ͅd̵̢̻͇͇̗̥͎̈́̏͑̈́̆͆̋̚i̸̤͉̩̩͕̙̮͙̦͖̮͒́̐͆̑͛r̴̳͎͔̮̮͉̿̉̽ḛ̶̥͉̿̃̚ç̶̨͖̱͉̣̳̠͋̇̃͂̒̔͐̈́̽́͝ͅt̸̠̋̏ ̸̢̱͕̖͓̾̍̈́̊̍̇̒͑͛̈ć̴̯̝̪̦̯̥͖̗̪̍̀̾͘ǫ̶̝̭̞̋̄͑͐̕̕n̴͍̬̝̞͕̝̳͗̌̊͌̽͝t̵͎͕̣̳̙̲̩̗̣͓̿̉̿r̴̡̛͇̰͉̮̼̠̼̙̈́̆͘ͅǫ̵̦̎̿̔̔̾͐̚l̴̪͎͉̳͎̳͛̑͒͗̈́͒̎̈̊̂ ̵̡̡̧̬̘̰̤̣̪̫̻̎̏͛̿m̴̪̠̻̭̮͙͙̣̰͙͑̐̓͐̓͝͝͝o̵̩̖̾͠m̴͇̞̦̳̰̜͚̙̮̿̓̄̈̄͐͑m̸͔͉͎̠͕̻͋͋̿̀͐́͌͊̽̕͝y̸̬͖͍̤͈̥͔̜͊̎͊̽̏͌̐̈̕.̴̢̼̬̥̲̪̦̠͑́́͝ ̷̜̖̖͓̼̺̺͕͓̼̾̏̓͒ **

**Gamer's mind collapse imminent. Journeyman level mind control. **

I saw a vision of an island in the darkness. A shield of metal and glass and flesh shielded it, and a fist squeezed, ever tighter. It snapped. My head burnt as the gears and cogs flew every way.

That certainly didn't sound good. Or look good.

There was a cliff. It looked tall. I could climb up it but-

"Do you trust me?" I asked him.

"A bit less today." He said, honestly.

"Good enough."

I picked him up, and tossed him over the cliff, and then leapt over to reach him. Inhuman strength was great. There was a passage of trees, and up there hopefully-

"**Are you mad at me, mommy?"**

Then I felt a sharp stabbing in my head. Then a quest popup appeared in front of me.

**New quest. Return to your daughter. Reward. A bazillian love points.**

**New perk achieved. You broke my heart.**

**New quest. I'm tired of waiting. Reward. Damn you!**

**New skill not learned! Being a proper mommy. Try harder.**

The girl appeared before me again. I could feel her touch on my head, like her fingers were digging into my brain

"What's this in your head? Such a messy web of knowledge."

Crap. I had to- Ethan was looking at me.

"Carry me to the car. And… sorry for this."

Sorry for what?" He said, increasingly horrified.

Increasingly absurd popups continued to fill my view, no doubt her mind control. This was bad. Very bad. I was trying to avoid anyone getting access to the gamer system. I took the chain cutter, and turned it around, to face my face.

**Invite Eveline to your party? Y/N**

And I rammed it into the broken hole where my nose had been, stabbing it deep into my brain.

* * *

They have escaped the dreaded dungeon, so well done them. Will there be any consequences? Maybe. But he's a big boy, he can take a bit of suicide. Now they're away from the cutscenes, having broken sequence and escaped when they were not meant to by climbing pipes, and now the technological renaissance can begin.

Toobad69. I have the future plotted out, but the precise direction is flexible. Giving my SI zombie powers was always part of the plan. I was flexible where they get it. What goes better together than Zombies and Saw?

Dr. Cookie Cutter. I am glad to please. I try to make each chapter exciting, and teach something new.

Zackman2k12. I try. Fast pace is good. Though next chapter they'll get some time to chill.

Dragonbornsam. All indeed is well.

Revelash. That is totally planned, though part of the story is the fun of dropping into the heads of random people and working out what is going on. That's a common fun thing in video games, but I have seen few SI stories cover it. But yeah I'm planning a perk where the SI can temporarily take his true form. I'll be focusing more on the human enemies here, and avoiding the grind. Mia is a tough lady, she can fight well. He has apprentice level gamer's mind, grandmaster level gamer's mind would make him untouchable, but he has the cheap corner store version. Which still stood up to a resident evil boss for a while when she was like thirty feet away, props to it. His conditions also caused more than 10% changes. Adam never met his mother or anyone he cared about, so it never came up for him. He was dropped in a room with a random stranger who he didn't like much, and he was a mentally healthy person who didn't deserve to be there and had no real issues. Mia is not mentally healthy, and has major issues. Plus some stuff that will come up next chapter.

Guest. SCP would be great. But what game or story should he go into?

See you next chapter.


	10. Voodoo woodoo why so much voodoo?

Don't worry readers who dislike gender bending. Soon, it shall end. Part way through this chapter, and then next chapter back to Saw.

* * *

I felt a pressure in my face. Then something bumped, and there was a stabbing pain in my head. Then I started to see again.

I looked up. I was in a car. We were going down a road, really fast. My head was regrowing, tendrils of matter refilling, worming their way. I was being restored.

I looked over. Ethan. Thank god, I was safe. My-

I blinked. I needed to know what drugs I had been on. I opened my status screen.

**Perk list!**

**Noting your frustration at not having available all of your perk points, for your satisfaction and pleasure, all of the perks of your character were balanced out with negatives from your character's backstory. You get to be the hero, free of charge.**

**Suicidal depression. Broken by your time locked in with the homicidal Baker family, your sanity has started to slip, and you are very willing to kill yourself. 200 points.**

**Mental collapse. Years of psychic trauma and abuse have left your mind fractured and vulnerable to psychic influence. 500 points. **

**Desperate for her family. All that time away from your family has left you with a crippling loneliness, and a willingness to do anything to stay with them. 300 points.**

And my benefits.

**Inhuman strength. 50 points.**

**Psychic network. 50 points.**

**Almost perfect regeneration. 500 points.**

**Super speed. 100 points. **

**Super spy. 100 points.**

**Super scientist. 100 points.**

**Master gun slinger. 100 points. **

I skimmed over them. They were strong. What was up with gamer's mind anyway-

**Gamer's mind. (disabled) Previously a resistance to mental effects of 10%, a superior psychic has now cracked this. Meditation and a few weeks of rest can restore this.**

Sure, the zombies would definitely wait a couple weeks for me to heal. I hadn't expected this gamer's mind thing to be perfect. It was just the apprentice version, the basic version. I had hoped not to be hit this hard this early on.

And look, the party system.

**Forceful action has unlocked the party system early! By inviting people into your party you can track their location, communicate to them afar, and with a close enough relationship, bring them into other worlds.**

I looked at my message inbox. 120 missed messages. Crap. I didn't seem to be mind controlled, it was a pheremone based system, but they had managed to join my party before I suicided.

**Mommy, why are you going? **

**Mommy, why?**

**Mommy I hate you.**

**Mommy you bitch.**

**Mommy it hurts.**

**Mommmmy!**

Was she my daughter? I felt this was too late to ask Ethan if this was my daughter. Was this a daring mission by him to rescue his wife and child, or just me?

I really wished these characters came with a cutscene backstory or something. Not just being chained in a stinky room.

Just in case, I sent her a message. **"Mommy is just going to buy you cake ingredients. She'll be back soon. Whilst I'm gone behave."**

"**But I want a cake now!"**

"**We all do, princess. We all do."**

"**What sort of cake?"**

"**It's a surprise. But it's filled with my love. And meaty fleshy and blood."**

"**Yay, my favourite!"**

And I closed my video game mobile. There was a flashing box and I willed it. My head still hurt from when my gamer's mind collapsed. If I focused I could feel those broken gears and metal and flesh that I had seen in the vision. They were very slowly pulling together. A mental image of my power? Or reality, and what it actually looked like? I dunno.

"Ethan?" I said. "I'm alive!"

"Mia?" He said. "Mia, you're awake. I'm so glad. I was worried you were dead but you just… healed. They screamed at us when we drove away. We're finally out. We're free.

I looked up. There was a meter above my head. Mutation corruption level. 6%

"You're free. Maybe you should go… but I'm infected. I'll have to go back. There might be a cure there."

He paused for a long time, gripping the wheel ever so tightly. The wooden paneling shook as he drove. Then he swerved in the road, kicking up dust.

"Let's go." He said, with no emotion. Dude was stone cold. He had killed me, saved me, and did it all without raising a fuss. I needed some of that.

I put my hand on his. "Woah, woah. No. Not yet. First we load up."

I'm a British lad. I love tea, the queen, and the NHS which lets us avoid all of the issues of the Saw films. In 1996 there was a school shooting in Dunblane, and for all but farmers and rich collectors, our gun access was cut off.

Such is not true in America. In there you can go to Walmart and load up on weapons. I had a large account with lots of money in it for some reason, so we loaded up. Regardless of your views on gun control, I think fungi zombies with magical mind control powers is a solid reason to get a lot of guns. In a world with Jigsaws, Jasons, Freddies, zombies, why not always go packing everywhere?

We got more than that. Ethan was a mechanical genius. He could rip things apart like no one's business and make them better than new. We got a load of stuff for bomb equipment, and as much anti fungals as we could carry. Working under him was… educational. I leveled up crafting a lot. Working under a master grade crafter apparently sped up exp gain a lot. Being near them made my skin itch, which was a good sign. I was a fungi zombie monster, so it worked.

I also got a full hazmat suit, gas mask and all. If I was super vulnerable to pheromones, why not just avoid it all? I got a blowtorch, slash proof body armor, tasers, heavy chains, a portable generator. I got some advanced computers and technology that was decades or centuries in advance of what I had today. I got everything. I even got cake.

I had some heavy debuffs. But with careful management I could avoid them. Stay close to Ethan, safe and protected, don't get in a suicidal situation, don't get exposed to any pheromones.

And off we went.

* * *

I got the sense that this mansion wasn't designed to be a co-op game. It looked like the game was built like the old ones. Very resident evil 1 esque, with a haunted mansion filled with traps and monsters. The monster variety was shit- the family members and some goo monsters- but that was fine.

It was also a little Resident Evil Nemesis styled. There were immortal family members roaming the house waiting to kill you. I'd met them all in my 1024 loops.

There was Jack. He was a balding, bearded man with anger issues and a love for heavy weapons. He regenerated really fast and chased you down smashing things. There was very little ammo in the house, and poor Ethan, who I suspected was the protagonist, would have to avoid him or use his scarce ammo to stagger him.

I myself had hundreds of rounds of shotgun ammo on me. It wasn't an issue. I simply blasted him in the head a few times till he stopped moving. He was super slow.

There was Marguerite. Creepy old woman, obsessed with feeding guests, spat insects at you if you insulted her cooking. She wasn't that tough, but it was freaky seeing her ugly mug appear in front of you.

There was Lukas. He was a creepy tinker who made explosives and traps and fire. Wander into his traps and he'd fuck you up. The jigsaw of the show.

Thanks to my disease sense and two shotguns, he was less of an issue.

And there was the worst of the worst. The true villain of the family.

Zoe Baker. Physically, the weakest of the villains, she would ring phones in the house and try to guide you to places. All to help. Then her family members would sneak up on you and fuck you up. She had sent me up to the attic to escape, right into the waiting hands of her daddy, Jack. She refused to tell you about her invincible family members or her sadistic family members, or anything useful really. She was the worst.

I had a plan for all of them. But first, we needed to prep.

We had bought self powered wifi enabled cameras. We slotted them everywhere we went, searching through the house. I tended to stand guard while he went crawling in small places.

After a lot of work, and a lot of effort to appease Evie, my new penpal, I had managed to get to the bottom of my quest list. Whilst we explored the house I had been texting her through the party system repeatedly. She was a nice girl. Shame she got captured by these psychotic infected hillbillies. She just wanted to be a child and I was pretty sure we were not biologically related, but she didn't seem to be at all hostile.

Anyway, I had a list of 32 collectibles to find, each with a perk reward. Video tapes, coins, all sorts of random crap. 20 more for smashing Mr Everywhere Statuettes, another 33 for collecting old coins, and 25 for each Baker family member I defeated, except Zoe. There were three other missions. One was to kill some mystery figure, the big boss, for fifty points- name was greyed out, I assumed Zoe when she assumed her final tentacled form. Another was 25 for curing me and a mystery figure, I assumed Evie.

At one point I found a tape. Turns out Lukas had picked up a camera crew, Clancy being one of the members, and had put him through a torturous series of Saw style challenges. After heading back to the opening dungeon, we used the VHS there to play it.

**Do you want to enter Birthday? Y/N?**

I checked my inventory. One shotgun, loaded. A tool kit, for repairs and such. A blowtorch and gas. A backup pistol. Medicine. Tactical armor. Climbing gear. Electronics warfare gear. All check.

"This looks fun. Let's watch it." I said, and pressed y.

**Computer levels gained! Shooting levels gained! Crafting levels gained!**

I was tied up- and I had a penis again! Yes, victory. Lukas was above me, his skin pale and uncanny valley, his black hair short, his nose massive, and his beard stubbly. My hands were tied. Well. This wasn't the best situation to wake up in. Not the worst either. At least I wasn't handcuffed to a pipe. Amateur hour.

"You, my friend. You are one lucky son of a bitch."

"I am. What's my prize?" I asked.

Ignoring me, he continued on. "You know, I actually envy you. What, you don't believe me?"

He leaned in over me, his disgusting corpse pallor all on top.

"This joy, you can't fake this."

"Smile through this mother fucker." I flexed my muscles and-

**Strength check failed!**

"Was that meant to do something?" He asked. Oh yeah. I wasn't super strong any more.

He grabbed me by my legs and dragged me into a heavy steel door. It was a bumpy ride.

"It's taken me weeks to finish this, and it's finally ready. And it's all for you."

"Thank you. I got you a present too." I gathered saliva in my mouth, and spat up, landing some in his eyes. He laughed madly, and spat at me in return. Ew.

He slid a knife through my hand bonds, kneeing down to my eye level.

"Oh come on now, don't be like that." In his southern drawl. "It's gonna be fun. Just you wait." I went to punch him, but he took it, slapped me to the ground, and walked out, locking the door again. I got up slowly, shaking my head.

I was in a dark creepy room, and- ooh, behind me. There was a weird corpse thing with a candle in it's hand. It was black, had a veiny chest, clown hair, was leaning over a table with books and nails and stuff on them. I looked behind it. Some nice robotics work. I looked at the candle. I guess I'm meant to take this? In this video game vision quest.

I yanked it away. I wandered through the wooden halls and saw a birthday cake with lights on it, and candles. The goal was to get this candle to it maybe?

**Wisdom check, 16/14. Success! Sprinkler system up above.**

I glanced up. So, I had to keep the candle lit, and get it past there? I looked around near me for something useful. After a little wandering I smelt a toilet, and went and yanked the cover off. Covers were so great. Using that as a water barrier, I walked my candle in past the sprinkler system, getting inside, and was about to put the candle in when-

**Deathly intent detected!** I looked around. A camera system. Maybe I shouldn't just randomly stick this here. I triggered my outside the box perk. **The cake is a lie.**

That wasn't good. My Dungeon Eye perk wasn't working that well with the shitty light. I was glad I had Death's Calling.

Like the heavens answering, lights flicked on above. I saw all.

There was a cake- and shaking the water from my nose, I could now smell a hint of dynamite, probably thanks to me having 16 wisdom now. Trap. Up above were paper party things. There was a big water tank to my right, and further round on my right a cabinet with a voodoo lock on it and some hanging stars.

A voice played. Lukas'

"I'm calling the game, I'd really like to make it out of this room alive, and not die a horrible painful death. I know. It's a hack title. Take the candle, light it, and put it on the cake. And remember to smile! The party is for you!"

Ok. So, trap, I did this, it exploded, I died.

You didn't trap me. I trapped you.

There was a central kitchen room with the locked steel door, kitchen junk, and some monitors- 300 HP, 300 armor, unbreakable because video game logic, with a bunch of kitchen supplies, along with a second door tied with rope. In front of it was the birthday room with the cake. To the right was a toilet.

I went to start gathering resources. I went to the toilet first. Hmm. My disease control sensed diseases in there. Ooh, I could now infect people with E-Coli! And I leveled up again, to level 4 disease control. Nothing in the back. Saw, you lied to me, people don't always hide things in toilet water tanks? I checked in the toilet, pushing my hand through the black goo. A telescope. I'm sorry Saw, you are always right. Above it were some toiletry and cabinets, and some black shower curtain plastic junk. There was some wood in the room behind it, a step ladder, some furniture covered up. Some sort of pipe blowing stuff, which gave me an ominous feeling from my dungeon eye perk.

I turned back to my prize. A telescope. Now I could star gaze my way out.

I wandered back to the cake room, and went to play with the locked cabinet. It was wall mounted, but I managed to rip it off the wall easily enough, and there at the back were some screws, which I managed to unscrew with some delicate finger work and a dex roll. Amateur hour. Inside was some spooky voodoo thing on a stick. I took the voodoo thing, because, why not?

There was a locked door in the corner of the main kitchen room, locked with rope. And guess what, I had a knife right here! I smashed the telescope, used the glass as a knife, and sliced it.

Inside was a creepy room filled with lots of balloons, and one yellow one. At the end of a hallway was another lock, again a roller.

I slowly turned it. With each turn there was click but there-

L. That click was slightly higher pitched. Something coming into place. One by one, I turned the tumblers, unlocking the door by sound. My enhanced observation and wisdom made it's child's play.

This is why you don't use locks that make sounds. L. O. S. E. R. Mean code, Lukas. Lukas, why won't you love me?

Inside the room was a wheel. It would fit on the pipe shut off valve in the birthday room, I think. I mean, I could turn off the water, but why not just cover up the candle?

I wandered a while more, but didn't discover anything else in that area, beyond some more cabinets.

I wondered what the plan was here. I wandered back to the birthday room, and checked out the big water tub-

Ah. That was oil, not water, from the smell. So, I was supposed to remove that, get oil everywhere, light the cake, and boom? No water. That wasn't happening.

I still had something to do with the balloon.

Moving the covered black item of furniture nearby to serve as a makeshift bomb shield, I stuck the balloon on the pipe near the toilet, and stepped behind the furniture item. It grew, and grew, and grew spikey, and exploded. Out came a pen and nails. That would have pierced me if I had stood there.

It felt weird being this wise. Intelligence gave me new options, but wisdom just let me see the dangers early. I could avoid obvious traps, think things through. I didn't feel an urge to smash my head on a wall. Life was good.

It was time for a trap.

First, I removed my electronic gear. Included in that bag (and the game was not flexible enough to let me combine bags of stuff, I had tried that) was a powerful jammer. It would make any cameras go haywire. I turned it on.

Then, I gathered up all the nails.

Going to the creepy skeleton thing, I went to work on that as well. It was There was a sophisticated mechanical robot system, but a little bit of work with my laptop was able to reprogram that.

I then got to work on the cake bomb. There were three wires, one of them red, one green, one blue. Which one to cut?

None of them. Contrary to movies, bomb makers were not obliged to label their bomb wires. They could also install anti tampering circuits which detected if you cut any wires. Real bomb defusers used x ray scanners and robots and other sophisticated pieces of equipment to break these. I did not harm these items on hand.

There was a little give in the wires. I had tested it from far away of course, behind dragged furniture. I could make this work.

Time to set the trap.

* * *

Lukas rushed in. All his cameras had gone offline. He quickly locked the door and headed for the birthday room. The cake was now sitting on the lap of the puppet he had made. The room hadn't burned, but oil was on the floor. As he entered, a tape started playing.

"You're a sad, hillbilly asshole. All your life you think of nothing but murder, torture, and being an asshole. You'll never move up in the world. But there is hope for you yet. Embrace the salvation of Jesus Christ, stop leaving creepy voodoo shit around the house kneel and pray for forgiveness, and you may get out of this alive."

"Where are you, asshole?" He said, ignoring the tape, turning back.

And as he crossed my motion sensor a second time, the puppet lunged at head height, where a praying man would have been safe. In one hand was the sharpened pen that had rammed out from the balloon, in the other the voodoo doll.

"The cake is a lie, the cake is a lie" A tape in it screamed, as it stabbed him again and again, with brutish strength.

Then on it's chest the cake, laden with nails, exploded as the wires had been ripped free. Just as Lukas intended, the door slammed shut, and the floor ignited into flames.

Lukas reached into his pocket, pulling out an emergency opening switch- jammed by me. I watched from beyond the door as he burned and burned.

After a while I went in. He was badly burnt, exhausted, but still regenerating. The burnt corpse was on top of him.

"That's what you get for all your voodoo shit." I shouted at him, pointing my finger. "You get a creepy clown stabbing you!"

It was time for my master plan. Dropping the pistol and the shotgun out of my inventory, since I had backups in the real world. I blasted him twice in the head with the shotgun, sending flecks of burnt flesh out, and reached forward to draw his corpse into my inventory.

**Temporal paradox. Emergency egress.**

I forced my will into it, drawing him in, him too weak to resist me. Almost there-

And I was back in Mia's body. I gasped.

You couldn't dupe items. I'd tried. If you took something from one loop into your inventory, it stayed in there the next loop. And there he was in mine, slowly regenerating.

**For an intelligent, time violating plan, you have gained +1 int. For executing an ironic trap that the user can escape but failed to, you have gained 6 perk points. **

One baker down. Three to go.

I looked down at my body. I hated being a living corpse.

**For completing a challenge in another body, you have unlocked skins! For three perk points you can adopt the skin of someone you control, allowing you to customize your appearance. 3 points per skin. **

Yes! About time.

* * *

I never could work out why they had so much voodoo shit lying around. What was up with that? And if the Baker family was zombie infected recently, why did they have secret passages everywhere? And yes, Zoe was not my favourite. She helped a bit I guess, but she could have done a lot more. And she led you into traps. Really, 1/10 score on aide on a phone. Would not recommend. Mia wasn't great either, but at least she tried to send some messages explaining things. I feel more people in life should record surprise VHSs for their relatives to find.

Also, I actually have a full hazmat suit now, in preparation for Coronavirus going big. I have gloves and a mask and goggles ready, because there was a virus infection near me. Resident Evil irl, here we come. Remember, blue side of the mask outwards. You look badass in them, as does Mia.

Good to get back to a Saw trap again. I tried his other boss fights, but they were either shoot at glowing blobs or shoot fat people and bombs. This was clearly Lukas' best moment, and the best boss fight. I would love a birthday like that.

Acespeed Ninja. You have been hit up.

Zackman2k12. Thank you, I try.

Dr Cookie Cutter. He is resistant to getting HIV from random dirty needles, though falling in a pit of dirty needles might count as an uncommon scenario. He is not poison resistant, but there is a way from this story for him to become so. Can you guess what he's gonna do?

Toobad69. I do intend to continue this. I was gonna make this one grand chapter, but then I had fun ideas, and so it's split into two.

Thorison1080. SCP could be great fun, any favourite SCPS that weren't included you'd like to see around? My favourite is SCP 1322.

Guest. I know, I feel weird. More games need to offer co-op.

Maff. Bye bye then.

PhantomAnatomy. He would very quickly level up shooting in overwatch. He would do absolutely terribly for a long time and die many many deaths, but eventually he would get good. They have crazy advanced technology as well, and he currently has no way to really handle that. He could try to set up traps but most would probably rip through them.

Gatling2745. Yep, he can survive infections pretty well. Ebola or coronachan could slay him, but he's not dying to anything common, and even against rarer things he would need a heavy dose to get infected. Thanks for all the praise! And yeah stealth isn't that useful because Jigsaw and Amanda are always watching and make linear puzzles with only one route forward.

Anon. Great idea. Silent hill is a great high level quest. He can face god level beings.

Guest. I would enjoy seeing if he could prevent the apocalypse.

Anyway, see you next story. We'll be back to Saw soon, so any ideas for Saw 2 are appreciated in reviews.


	11. Never split the party

I tossed Lukas out of my inventory.

"Ambush!" I said, as I shot Lukas's burnt and charred corpse with my shotgun repeatedly, splattering blood all around.

Ethan reacted quickly, firing several bullets into him as well. From somewhere, Lukas drew out a bomb. I jumped onto him, shielding Ethan with my body, letting the explosion ripple through both of us. 200 damage! Broken bones. 50% reduced stats. Lukas stopped twitching. I grabbed him. "Quick, we need to get him to the trap!" I dragged him wrapping some chains around him, every movement hurting as my broken bones slowly reknitted themselves, along with heavy locks from my backpack as I dragged him out of the house.

Ethan said something. My head was wringing.

"Whaaaat." Oh, my ear drums had been blown out. I made an effort, and they regrew.

"Say that again?"

"Can't we kill him?"

I shook my head. "If you do enough damage we transform into some sort of super monster thing. Takes a lot of damage."

"Seems unfair. What happened to conservation of mass?"

"Blame Umbrella. I didn't make this virus. And voodoo magic. I assume voodoo is involved as well. Curse you, Papa Legba."

I knew that some of the bosses went to absurd sizes. Like, Simmons could turn into a kaiju sized mutant without nomming any corpses. Did they have a meat dimension like wolverine? Were they less dense than air? Was it just video game logic I should accept?

Lukas started to grow, to twitch, to pulsate. Pulling out a bottle from my bag, I started pouring fungicide all over him, the liquid burning and searing him. His transformation dying down.

**Mommy, it hurts. I hurt. I always hurt, but more. What are you doing to my brother?**

**Just preparing a surprise family meeting.**

**Remember, you promised cake.**

Ethan looked at me.

I glanced up. 16% mutation rate. It had spiked up two percent. My skin itched, being so close to the fungicide. We needed to find the cure.

We got him to the generator we had set up. It was hidden in the trees, away from where they would see him. I took several crocodile clips and strapped him in.

His regeneration came quickly, as I finished chaining him up.

"What did you do?" He asked, straining against the steel.

"You're strapped up to a generator." I clicked a button. Volts of electricity sped through Lukas, making him pulse and spasm. I depressed it. "Move too much, and you get shocked. Make too much noise, and you get shocked. Escape the steel chains somehow and- I gestured to the fungicide laden pipe bombs set up around him. "You get boomed."

"I'll kill you. I'll kill your family, I'll rip Ethan's face off and eat it in front of you." He said.

"Good luck."

And we walked off.

And we got back to exploring, and trying to find the other two. They were more careful now. We didn't see them, or the goo zombies much.

I did find something very very cool. Three somethings.

**Steroids. Dramatically strengthens muscles. Permanent +1 strength. This benefit persists across deaths and worlds. **

We had found four of those.

**Stabilizer. Relaxes the muscles and reduces stress, making reloading faster. Permanent +1 dex. This benefit persists across deaths and worlds. **

Jackpot. I would use them now but my hazmat suit made it hard.

"I could use them." Said Ethan, reaching out.

I quickly shook my head, greedy, and felt a sudden stab of guilt.

"No, they're… zombie… magic." I choked out, pulse racing.

It hurt a lot lying to him. I knew rationally that I needed these buffs for future worlds but…

I couldn't do it.

"Take the stabilizers. They're not zombie magic. They'll let you shoot better."

I handed them over, and he took them.

My heart was racing. "I need… I'll stay close. Give me a second. I'll be behind that tree." I gestured.

I stepped away from him. I know this was stupid, horror movie getting caught 101. But I needed relief.

I called up the perk menu, and I had indeed earned enough perk points to buy either my base form, or Clancy's. 3 points for each. I picked my one, and pulled out the laptop.

My real face looked back at me. Brown hair, beard, male, tall. I was me again. I stroked my stubble, through the hazmat suit, and slowly stopped hyperventilating. I was… me. For a bit.

I heard him coming around, and quickly switched back.

"The mutations are getting worse."

He nodded. "I can see."

I pulled out the scrap of paper we had found. Margie had tried her hardest to keep her off, but she was no match for our shotguns.

**Serum documentation.**

**Regarding the -Series serum: the following items are needed to be able synthesize the serum.**

**D-series cranial nerve**

**D-series peripheral nerve**

**Adds E series virus cure to recipe list for crafting/ science.**

"Soon."

Ethan patted my shoulder, and we went on looking.

Other than the stat buffs and the cure, there was a third really special item.

In a bird cage in the main house, you could slide antique coins in to get rewards. I dunno what economic games the Baker family was playing, but I had used the five fingered inhuman strength discount to get them early.

I know, I know, very disrespectful. But they did try to eat us, so.

Zoe hadn't gone quietly. She was defending several of them, and I had to tase her and hit her with my shotgun a few times before we took her to the circle. Lesson 101 of psychological horror. Don't talk to the villains. Never monologue.

Anyway, I had found a very nice pair of items. The iron defense coin, and the assault coin. They gave 20% buffs to defense and damage respectively. It was definitely voodoo.

"So" I asked, as we wondered through the morgue a low down cage area below a railing, bodies of I assumed homeless people hanging everywhere, checking each for an arm of a D series zombie, tossing my coin up and down in my hand. "Do you think this is all gonna be voodoo or something? Ancient mystical magic."

"Magic isn't real." Said Ethan.

"Not with that attitude. I'm serious. Voodoo dolls everywhere, creepy underworld keys, passages everywhere, magic coins- what's up with that? I don't really associate southern hillbillies with voodoo and secret passages, but here we go."

"Maybe they're just random items of religious symbolism they collected. A lot of families collect this sort of stuff. It is an old swamp plantation. Maybe they took it from slaves, and their ancestors liked torturing the slaves."

"Oh yeah! Maybe there'll be a tie in to RE 5 there. The Africans produced one plague. Now another." I had loved Resident Evil 5. Wait. I hadn't meant to say that.

"RE 5?" He said, curiously.

I couldn't lie to him.

"I have video game powers!"

He paused, and looked at me.

"Me too. I literally can't carry more than 12 items and whatever is in my hands now."

**What did you do to my brother and sister? He was supposed to come play.**

Said a text from Eve.

**I'm getting all the family together for a party** I sent back.

"You get more than me! I only get 8. But I can carry more. Lukas took up two spots."

He frowned. "Shotguns take up two shots for me."

I shrugged. "Just one for me. I guess my system is more generous. I think mine is going for more of a survival horror progressing to shoot em up vibe, while yours is more of a survival horror one, where resources need to be very scarce."

"Do you think I'm infected? Maybe this is some sort of HUD upgrade used to make zombies more effective. Or voodoo."

I shook my head. "I think we're in a video game. We're sentient manifestations of the characters within." This conversation felt weirdly meta.

"Like parallel world theory? Everything is true in some world? This place does seem-"

**Them too.**

I checked my monitoring tablets. Shiiit. A lot of zombies moving towards us, stealthily. And the Bakers were not visible anywhere.

"We need to fort up. Incoming." I said.

Thanks Eve.

Looked like the Bakers were using their supernatural control of the zombie hordes to launch an all out goo assault.

We quickly both started setting up a perimeter. I shot down several of the hanging corpses, making them into a crude fort, and Ethan started laying down proximity mines at the entrances and tables. I tossed him one of my tablets. "You control the explosives. I'll tank the fire." This was why I had taken the iron defense coin.

I don't mean to brag, but I was pretty tough. Killing Zombies and Lukas had leveled me up to level 7. I now had 210 HP, 50 HP and 20 armor from my body armor, and my almost perfect regeneration made that pretty impressive.

**Almost perfect regeneration. You heal 1% of your health per second. In addition, non antifungal weapons do 50% less damage, 60% less when not against the head. Incapacitation has unpredictable results.**

Coupled with the coin, which made me take 20% less damage linearly, I only took 30-20% damage from any hit. I could take a lot of firepower without being in much trouble. 6 hand gun shots from the 200 damage one.

I was a tough mother fucker.

That was what I thought, till our car drove through a wall, from some unknown hidden corridor, with Marge and Jack on it, yeehawing, and rammed straight into my chest.

I ragdolled back into the wall, smacked my head there, and heard a lot of bones snap and break.

**You have suffered 800 damage. Reduced to 730 by body armor. Reduced by 70% to 300. You have broken bones. 50% reduced physical stats, -9 HP.**

Fuck. I was out.

Ethan stepped up. With a firm series of shots, he ripped out the car's wheels. As it reversed and went forward, steel burning, it tilted to the side and missed my head by inches.

Then 5 seconds had passed. My regeneration finished, and I had 1 HP.

The Baker's span our car through the corpses in the morgue in circles, trying to hit Ethan and me. I dodged back, going to grab my fallen shotgun, when Ethan did something dangerous.

Ethan shouted at Marge,

"Your cooking stinks just like your son's corpse." As he spoke, a pair of zombies came through a door, and he set off an explosion, ragdolling them, as a pair of other ones hopped down from above.

Marge stepped out and began tossing insects at Ethan. Zombies, insects and Marge to handle for him.

She spoke to him.

"We open our home! We open our hearts! And what do you do?!"

I stood up and aimed to fire at the car. Jack turned towards me.

"Better start running girl!" He said. And he drove the car straight at me. I got off two shots into his head- 600 damage out of 2000- before came at me.

Flopping through the pain of having several of my bones sticking out of my body, I rolled aside as he rammed the car into the wall. He started spinning the wheel.

"I'm gonna get you!" I pulled out the strong healing herbs, and poured some over my broken skin. It quickly started to heal. I was up to full in no time. Those video game bosses who you depleted to almost nothing and had a surprise second wind? I was then, I got up, and aimed my gun at Jack.

I heard several gun shots. Ethan was driving back Marge with a concentrated rain of fire. It was going well- till a fat goo zombie spat at his face, burning acid at it.

Jack managed to get the car turned enough, knocking aside a corpse, and came at me again. I had to save Ethan.

I quickly went to my perk screen. Super strength needed 50 strength. I had gotten 6 from leveling up, and 4 from the steroids, and had 40 before. I dumped my points in, and felt my muscles grow denser and tougher.

From all my collections and leveling up, I had enough perk points. 50 needed. I dumped them in.

When he drove at me, I stood firm, ignored equal and opposite physics reactions, and grabbed the car. I worked my muscles against the car engine as he growled, slowly turning it, and directed it towards Marge. Then I stepped aside.

Just as Marge was about to take care of Ethan, her husband smashed into her with the car. She was tossed to the side, wounded, and he smashed into the wall. The car burst into flames. Jack took 1000 more damage, bringing him down to 600.

Ethan quickly healed his eyes with a herb potion, and I went to Marge, grabbing her in my arms. She had a glowing chest thing. She was strong, but I was stronger.

"Shoot it!" I said. Ethan pulled his shotgun, and opened fire, smashing several powerful shots into her chest. Goo poured out.

"Gonna get ya! Try and get away from my babies cocksucker!" She shouted, and she slapped my face. Ants and caterpillars and spiders started crawling up into my face, biting and ripping at my nostrils and inside my skull.

I heard the vrumming of a chainsaw.

"Oh, girl, look what you've done you mother fucker!"

I had just enough time to look behind me, as the flaming Jack pulled out a double chainsaw, and sliced me in half. I felt loss, as part of me fell away, and the pain in my lower half reduced to nothing.

**150 damage done! Mobility reduced by 50% and bottom half lost.**

He picked me up, my flesh searing and cooking, and held up my top half, laughing, as I was in agony from the insects crawling through me, taking 20 damage every second... I had to stop this. I couldn't take much more.

**20 HP left.**

I grabbed him, with just as much strength as him now, and head butted him.

**10 damage done to both of you! 10 HP left.**

The searing flames sterilized the bugs, and he snapped back, like a car hit him, as did I. I quickly crawled over on my hands towards my lower half when a goo zombie leapt at me, wrestling me. I pulled out a handgun and shot it, but I missed the second shot, my damaged eyes not fully regenerated. It leaned forward to bite into me.

Ethan blasted it with a shotgun, running away from Marguerite's corpselike body, and the insects, and kicked my lower half to me. "Thanks!" I said, as I pulled out a potion to pour over it, sealing it back onto me, and restoring my health from a sliver up to full.

Just as Jack, still aflame, now at 200 HP, charged into me, ramming me to the ground. He pressed the chainsaws at me, and I grabbed them with my hands. They sawed into me, a steady 10 HP a second lost, but my hands were tough. With brutish strength, and super spy skills, I kicked up with my legs, tossing him over my head, and took control of the double chainsaw, mounting him, pushing down with my strength, trying to slice at him. As I got close to his neck, his head suddenly bulged up, the flesh resisting as it went red, flinging off flames. My dry, fungi body started to burn, losing me another 10 HP a second. I was down to 147.

Ethan had driven Marge back to a table, cornering her, and had cut off her retreat. As she released a massive swarm of spiders, he drew out a makeshift flamethrower and pressed closer in, burning mugs.

And a cloud of spiders rushed over us both, dousing Jack's flames, and doing another 30 damage to me. Jack kicked me, and I flew back across the room, smacking into the wall. 200 damage, down to 60. Not too bad. I ducked and rolled, clearing the flames, and got up. Jack had rushed towards Marge, taking hits for her, his monstrous regeneration accelerated now. 200 a second, enough to outpace his burning damage, worms of flesh refilling his broken body visibly fast.

Marge and Jack stood together, her at 300 Jack at 500

"I can't die." he said. "But you can." And started towards us.

I was at 60. Not much left in the tank.

"I know. But she can." I said.

I took out a can of Raid, bug spray, and tossed it at Marge. Ethan skillfully blasted it out of the air with his shotgun. The can exploded, and she screamed, all her bugs dying, taking 100 damage.

She fell back, her chest glowing with the insect hide within, and Jack started marching towards us.

Then we both opened fire, filling her glowing spots with hot shotgun lead, loaded with a little extra fungicide.

"I'm gonna tear your fucking face off and eat your scrawny head!" She shouted, and released a massive storm of insects, enough to distract our fire, down to 100 now.

And Ethan, because we had cameras and explosives set up and were not fighting fair, detonated an explosive right behind her. Nails, fungicide, and explosive blasted into her. 200 damage.

The bugs quickly vanished, leaving a shocked, double chainsaw wielding, 2000 HP charred Jack, and his dead wife.

"You killed everyone I loved! I'll kill you!" He said, and charged forward, as two of the remaining three goo zombies charged me. I grabbed one's arm, and smashed it into the other like a battering ram, knocking it into the wall, and tossed the remaining one at Jack. He sliced it apart as he charged at Ethan, who was distracted blasting the fat zombie who spat goo.

I leapt forward, and but didn't have time to do anything fancy but grab the blades.

I was up to 70 now, but ticking down fast. And he felt even stronger. I couldn't resist. I was smashed to the floor, dirty and stinking with blood, and felt his overwhelming strength on me.

**50**

Ethan turned, and blasted him with his shotgun, emptying his clip 1200.

"Boy, that gun isn't gonna work the way you think it will." He said, and went back to trying to slice off my head, the chainsaw revving through my slashed up head.

**30.**

Ethan reloaded quickly, and emptied another clip into Jack's head. It was pulped, damaged, but he wasn't going down. 600. His regenerating didn't seem to be kicking in any more. Burnt out maybe? But I was almost out. The chainsaw was slicing through my hands, only stopped by my bones.

**10 HP left. **

I activated the special ability of Super Strength. It was me on my own again. I needed to finish this. Through the burning I felt chill, and I felt strength pulse through my arms, and I forced the chainsaw back, slicing at Jack's neck.

Suddenly, he grew weaker, the red pulsing mass filling his head, protecting him. I kept pushing and kept pushing but he just wouldn't die. Then I remembered. Ethan. Yes.

"Now!" I said, as Ethan unloaded another clip of firepower into him, and I turned the chainsaw back on Jack, grabbing it. I pushed with brutish strength, slicing and sawing into him and then- forced it through his body. He was almost down- and there. He exploded, in a mess of blood.

I collapsed on my butt, and laughed and laughed and laughed madly.

"That's what you get, fuckers. You didn't focus your dps, and we out healed you! We are family!" I said, and flopped on the floor.

**Level up! Level up! For killing two boss level encounters, you have gained enough exp to level up twice. Your disease control has leveled up to level 30, and your shooting has advanced to level 6. You have gained the title zombie slayer! 100% increased damage to zombies when equipped. **

Oh yeah. I was exposed to pheromones. I looked up to the meter. 95% corruption.

An old woman stepped out from the door, shambling towards us. I saw a flash, and she was Eve.

Ohhh. Her picture had been outside my cell. They were one and the same? Made sense. Zombie magic again? Or maybe she was like some voodoo deity that was maiden mother and crone?

Ethan raised his gun. I gestured at him to lower it, and winked.

"Is that any way to treat our daughter?" I said.

Was she our daughter? I still had been a little too nervous to ask. But it was too late to back down now.

"We're here for you. And it's time to end your suffering." I Said.

Material sciences and sciences in general here were advanced. From my backpack, I pulled out an intact syringe filled with a shitload of heroin.

A lot of her texts had talked about pain. Whatever the Baker family or the Umbrella corp or whoever had done to her, it hurt her. Always. She sought the distraction of family. I could see more now why.

And that's why heroin existed.

She growled at me. "You're just gonna take me away! For experiments." I shook my head.

My corruption meter ticked up to 100% and I felt myself losing control. My will was stronger though. I activated Desperate Struggle.

**Desperate struggle. Your will to fight, to live, to stay alive in the face of terrible injuries. Regain 10 HP and remove 10% of a stat debuff. Can cause long term damage, and is only usable once per month, requiring substantial rest to heal. **

The corruption ticked down. I would not let this curse claim me.

I stabbed the needle into my neck, and injected the heroin into myself. I then opened psychic network.

**Psychic network! Through the use of fungal pheromones you can communicate your will, pictures, and ideas to other infected. Short ranged (5 feet)**

I pushed my truthfulness into my will, trying to fill her mind with images of calm, and love, as the heroin gripped me.

"Trust your mother." I said. I pulled her old, decrepit body close to mine, and felt the intensity of her pain, her tortured limbs, her agony at the world.

She looked down. "It hurts! It hurts! It hurts!" She said.

"Are you a good daughter?"

"I'm a good daughter." I then injected the heroin into her neck as well. We soon both flopped to the ground, in a mess of pain.

"You have a mother and father who will really care for you now. Rest." I said. And we flopped to the ground.

I woke up a while later, at our Lukas and Zoe filled campsite.

I sat up, woozy. "Did you… double double double double." I flopped down.

He nodded. "I burnt Jack and Marguerite." I sighed. "And the nerves?"

He held up a black arm. "I found the hidden shrine. And all the rest." He gestured.

135 perk points from all the collectibles and the bosses. 90 from the level ups. 2 stat points left. It was a solid haul.

My corruption meter was at 100% of course. No side effects. Eve was sleeping fine.

"I worked out what was wrong with Eve. They made a mistake in the telemere regeneration protein. Medical science was also absurdly advanced, enough for you to have field DNA test kits.

"Probably intentional. So if she ran off she'd be useless." I said, making a dirt angel with my hands. This heroin felt so nice. Wooo.

"I think I can make two cures from what we have left. One for you, and one for her. The D series has greater regenerative properties.

I nodded. "Sounds good."

"Wait!" Zoe said. Lukas was sulking.

"I'm not with them! I was trying to help you."

"I heard your first call on the phone. He did too. You told us to go up to the attic. Jack was waiting there." I had relaxed my no talking to psychos rule once, to prove to him what she was like.

"I didn't know. I don't know everything. I just know what they're like. You can't trust her."

This wasn't the happiest trip.

"Your family kidnapped poor Eveline, kidnapped hosts of homeless people, you lure people into your dad's grip, you have so much voodoo and so many secret passages it's crazy- and you expect me to believe the innocent little is untrustworthy."

"We found her! In a storm! She made us do it. But not me. I resisted her. The voodoo- it was just a hobby."

"That defense didn't work for the Nazis. It won't work for you. You're a bunch of creepy, evil, hillbilly cannibals obsessed with voodoo, and I don't trust you at all."

Lukas used this chance to make an escape. Resisting the electricity, his body suddenly pulsed to massive size-

And then was ripped to shreds by multiple fungicide loaded pipe bombs set all around him. Blood splattered Zoe.

She screamed and held her hands in front of her face.

"Why…?"

She asked.

Ooh, level up. 35 more perk points and a stat point. Jackpot!

I got up awkwardly. "Look, I'm not sure if I think you actually are bad. But I don't trust you. Not one bit. What's taking so long with the cure?"

I got up slowly, my limbs heavy with heroin, and walked over to Ethan.

"I can't get the components to bond. They need some catalyst, to hold them together, but I can't work out." I peered through the microscpe, scanned the results of the gas chromatography machine. The answer was clear.

I took one of our herbs, and one of the strong chem fluids. I swished it in my mouth, chewing it up, and then spat it in the test tube.

Scientist title ftw.

"Does that work?" He took a tissue sample and tested it. "Yes! It heals it."

I sighed and flopped back down.

"Sciennnnce!" And collapsed. "Heroinnn. It's not that I'm an addict. I'm an addict to not feeling pain." This euphoria was amazing. No more soreness. No more being eaten by bugs. No more being cut in half by a flaming zombie. Now I could just chill. I felt so connected with the world. Like we were one.

He injected me first. I saw the corruption meter going down, as the fungi stabilized in me. Then he looked at Eveline.

"Are you sure?"

Zoe looked up again.

"No, don't give to her."

I nodded. "Yeah. I'm sure. Do it. And bring the cake." I pulled myself up, and crawled over to Eveline, pulling her into my arms. Ethan came over, a cake saying "The cake is not a lie" In one hand, and a syringe in the other. He placed the cake down. As the needle pierced her neck, injecting the cure, she flinched.

"You're safe." And then slowly reverted back to the form of a little girl with black hair.

**For getting two companions to devoted, you have unlocked the companion perk! You can take as many companions as you like from other worlds. Each person takes up two inventory slots.**

"Yes please." My family. I tagged them both.

The coin, the shotgun, a toolkit, and four strong medicines were going with me. I loaded up as much other useful stuff as I could on those two. Eveline ate meat pie cake. I had all the electronics of resident evil, I had their downloaded medical texts, I had bioscience machines, all stuffed in my inventory cubes. I had the fungi zombie virus stored. If I went back to my homeland now, I could advance science decades, or start the apocalypse if I so chose.

I felt the end coming. I had won. I had won, and gained two powerful new allies. And more than that- I was high on heroin. I could get used to this.

* * *

Now he has the first potentially world ending threat! With careful planning and a world not prepared for a surprise mind controlling zombie Eveline, he could take control of the world.

The car boss fight and the chainsaw boss fight were the best, so I mixed them up. Insect was ok, but, eh. Bugs flying at you. Not the most exciting. Still, Marguerite is fun to play with.

Remember raiders, always stick with the group and don't be drawn off by aggros. Never split the party.

Back to Saw next time.

Zackman2k12. You're welcome, it's fun to both read your reviews and write this as well.

Thorison1080. The lovely lizard is great fun, and that would make a good phone, especially if he was also navigating an SCP breach.

Dr Cookie Cutter. The hazmat suit is stored on one of his companions. And yeah, there is always the option of surrendering to fate and dying a quick death.

Gatling 2745. Yeah, Saw 2 isn't too hard to work through. Which means he is gonna try his best to get out of it loaded. Poison Maniac would definitely help, yeah.

Dragonbornthesam. Resident evil is canon for the real world, confirmed.

DG2. Yep, he'll be getting a bunch of disguise perks soon.

Juneur5. Thanks.

See you next time with new perks and Saw 2.


	12. The real choice

Returning to the blackness he- I wasn't alone. There, floating in the air was a cabinet. Each of his-my items were held, from his inventory, along with a shelf with trophies for each achievement and universe.

The void was becoming a bit more homely.

There in the corners, chained to pipes, sleeping as well, were his two captives. Ethan, and Eve.

He checked his status screen.

**Name: ?**

**Job: Gamer**

**Level: 1**

**Level: 1 (0/100)**

**Title. Zombieslayer  
**

**HP: ?**

**Stamina: ?**

**Strength: +12**

**Constitution: +2**

**Dexterity: +2**

**Intelligence: +5**

**Wisdom: +4**

**Luck: 0**

**Three stat points available. **

**521 perk points available.**

**Skills**

**First aid level 8** **30/100 exp**

**Scavenge, level 92 32/100 exp**

**Observation, level 94 0/100 exp**

**Baseball, level 9 10/100 exp**

**Stealth, level 30 0/100 exp**

**Computers, level 6 99/100 exp**

**Crafting, level 99 1/100 exp**

**Disease control, advanced apprentice grade, level 15 76/100 exp**

**Diplomacy, level 12, 15/100 exp**

**Shooting. Level 63, 67/100 exp**

He sighed. He had bled for those increases.

He could still feel the skin crawling sensation of death, of dying, or being eaten, of being torn apart, of being burnt, of bugs crawling in his brain, of stabbed and shot and of tearing his own nose off. I- he. Felt disconnected from my- his- her whatever's own body.

And the heroin had faded away.

He let out a loud scream, and clenched his hands hard enough to draw blood, breathing fast. "Fuck you, game, fuck you bakers, fuck you everyone". He ran to the trophy case, picking up the one for amputating his foot, a golden image of a foot in glass. He hurled it at the cabinet. It smashed, and then almost instantly regenerated, returning back to the cabinet. He went all out, smashing and cracking the cabinet again and again and again, venting his fury.

He shouted at the two individuals in the corner. They stayed asleep through it all, unreactive to his anger.

He shouted at himself, for his mistakes.

He kept going till he felt the tightness in his chest relax a bit, and breathed deep.

That was how he handled emotional pain. Unleash it a bit, rant and rave, then bury it so his subconscious could handle it.

Lessons learnt. He needed a more powerful gamer's mind to handle scenarios like that. He didn't know all these universes well enough. Teamwork was very effective if handled well. He had missed some free dex points, and potentially he could have farmed that universe for infinite dex and strength points. Levels reset, so he could gain 100 perk points and 10 stat buffs per universe potentially.

He was pretty sure even if it had taken every perk point he had left, and all 8 inventory slots, his old self would have taken Ethan, because of those flaw features that tugged on your emotions. Emotionally, without a stronger gamer's mind he wouldn't have been able to grind that universe. Not that he regretted his current choices that much.

Ethan was a genius, amazing at crafting. With his help he could grind up his own skills to new heights, along with learning enough medical science to craft a cure.

Eve was a biological weapon who was looking back on it, probably the main villain of the game he had been in. That said, with the right location he might be able to make an enhanced version of her plague. Or just her for her abilities. He could become a superhuman, bypass the need to buy perks, become super durable and tough and get mind control powers.

That would need new skills. He checked his.

He had reached level 99 in crafting. He was pretty sure he got stronger exp for advanced apprentice grade crafting, and the 60 or so levels he had in that had translated to some big bonuses. Last level was a doozy though. Insane exp requirements to go up. Every point was a drag.

He was level 63 in shooting. Nice.

Disease control had ticked up to level 15 by the end. And it was advanced apprentice grade. He checked the perks for that.

**Zombie bite! You can inflict a controlled infection on someone, passing on a disease you have. With greater disease control** **you can selectively pass on infections or not. 6 points. **

A nice melee augment.

**Zombie spit! You can spit a glob of toxic disease fluids, likely infecting** **anyone you hit, and doing a constant 10 damage a second to them. Damage may increase with some diseases. 6 points.**

A nice debuff, ranged attack.

**Plague master! You can store one plague between worlds, reinfecting yourself. 6 points.**

Once I made a reliable super augment plague, this would be solid.

**Disease purge. Choose a disease you have. Exert your will on yourself or another, and reduce symptoms to low levels. Note. Long term perk, requires a lot of stamina. 6 points.**

Useful, back in the real world. I could cure people with weakened immune systems of infections.

A new tab had opened up.

**Diplomacy.**

Number one had been under it, and now it also had-

**Raid leader. You are a competent leader, and skilled at organizing dangerous situations. Once per combat scenario you can bolster all your followers, granting them +2 stats and +10 HP. 25 points.**

Ooh, solid buff.

For 3 points each it, it had Mia, and Clancy. I could take those forms. It also had this.

**Fluid shapeshifter. For the sake your companions, you adopt whatever form is most pleasing, so long as you have purchased it. 6 points.**

Yes. No more gender bending required.

**This is my final form. Using stamina proportionate to the difference in stats, adopt the stats and skills of any form you have purchased. 100 points.**

That would be nice. I could gain super powers. I need a lot more stamina, and maybe some stamina perks, to make it useful.

Stealth had leveled up to 30, and it had a triplet of perks ready.

**Stealthy predator. You are a skilled predator, avoiding notice from any not greatly gifted in senses. You can find enough food to survive in any natural scenario. 25 points.**

The stealth upgrade, presumably flavoured that way because of the last scenario.

**Holdaway compartment. You can hold one small item away from the notice of any searchers. A very thorough search may still find it. 3 points  
**

Useful.

**Hungry for flesh. By consuming the flesh of humans or other sentient beings, especially their brains, you can gain some degree of their knowledge and secrets. 6 points.**

A cannibalism perk. Of course. Would it give me free skills? Could be useful. I didn't really want to eat people though. I wasn't a fan of vore.

Super strength had had a special requirement. It didn't say it here. Maybe it was world dependent? Like if I went to Halo and got to be Master Chief, I was pretty sure I'd be strong enough to get the perk then. Did some of the other special perks have hidden requirements? This game could do with a manual.

**Gamer's mind- upgraded. For an extra 200 points, you can upgrade this to the second level. 20% reduce in all mental stat debuffs, and all mental conditions will be healed within one day.**

**Backup Gamer's mind. If your gamer's mind is ruptured, a new one will replace the old one within an hour. 6 points. **

Useful things. I guess if you used a perk, you got upgrades.

He had some free con perk choices as well, from amputating his ankle.

**Amputee veteran. While you may lose capabilities from losing limbs, you don't get any stat debuffs. You can remove any of your limbs easily and quickly.**

**Joint master. Using 10 stamina, make an attack against a joint. Do 100% extra damage if it hits.**

**Flexible bones. You can dislocate and break your bones fluidly, and heal faster from such actions, allowing you to escape traps and problems.**

And finally, inventory upgrades. Computers had got a few levels, but not enough to get me perks. I hadn't used them much.

**Enhanced inventory. For an extra 200 points, you can upgrade this to the second level. 16 slots.**

**Backup chest. You can store up to 8 items here, swapping them in and out of your inventory. 6 points.**

**Relive the trauma. In your personal space, replay the experiences that hurt you. Popcorn, doritos, and mountain dew included. 3 points.**

That last one was curious. I selected it, and purchased it.

A tv, small and bulky, a VHS player a PS4, a vr set, a chair, and a dvd case and a VHS.

Saw.

Resident evil 7.

Which one to play first? The real choice.

* * *

Mental health is a bitch. Sometimes you don't have time to unload, and just need to bury it deep deep down. Luckily, he has some video games and movies to help him handle those. Isn't he a lucky guy?

Soon, he shall go into Saw 2. Any build suggestions are appreciated, or new perks to add in.

Mistersnx. They probably fled and adopted Eve, and Mia probably got crystalled and later rescued by Joe/ blue umbrella. Happyish ending, so long as Eve can restrain her psychopathic urges. Mia was always her favourite family member anyway. She was her handler, and reasonably able to control her. That said, if we return later we can see what happened in more depth.

Thorison1080. I mean, Saw is always fair and nothing ever goes wrong and complicates things. Now it's just of course gonna be gravy and easy missions. And the perks are always fair and accessible. Always. It's not like the universe is cruel and unfair and deliberately complicates the protagonist's life. Don't worry, I have plan for this.

Sylphi. Yeah. That's how RE 7 goes. You start off sorta grounded, resources scarce, going through it slowly and carefully and meeting lots of dangerous, facing mostly realistic humanoid foes with special toughness. Then it ends grand, flashy, and insane. They go for the boss battles of 4 and 5 and such. Saw never gets that over the top, so he won't be having that there. This is just how RE 7 works. He follows a bit the narrative beat of worlds. So, grounded body horror, light sci fi, then over the top madness. And yeah, he can emulate Mia so that Ethan and Eve can comply.

DG2. Re7 is like that. You can get your leg sliced off or get hit by a car and shrug it off with a potion. It's mad game. I'm glad I played it. Honestly, I think ethan is a bit tougher than Mia here. Mia got like sliced in two by one blow, but Ethan can take several chainsaws to the face or arm and be ok.

Gatling2746. Thanks. Soon we shall go into Saw 2.

Any build suggestions or new perks always appreciated. Soon, he shall be off into Saw 2, to experience all madness.


	13. Nerve gas house party

Saw 1 was a pretty solid film, I thought, my fingers stained with doritos, my mouth heavy with mountain dew. I knew it had been rush filmed, but the whole intermixing of body horror with flashbacks had worked well. They did well on their shoe string budget. I felt a bit more like me again.

Ooh, foot slicing scene.

"Cut it off! Cut it off! Cut cut cut!" I cheered, as Gordon did the old foot lopsie.

Resident Evil 7 was still a bit too raw for me. Memories were fresh. I hated being trapped, feeling like you couldn't escape. I could get by on raw adrenaline, but I couldn't make good decisions on that.

So, perks. Gamer mind 1 and 2. I needed to emotionally heal to function, and with that I'd be up to full in a day. I couldn't buy them in here, I'd checked.

Saw 2 was pretty easy from what I remember. I could get by it on my base stats if I wasn't an idiot. I could afford to spend this time grinding.

You were trapped in a building with a bunch of strangers and there were traps suited to your sins. Amanda, the Jigsaw apprentice, Daniel, the tech kid, Xavier, the drug seller, Jonas, the nice guy, Gus, the asshole, Laura, the sad weak woman, Addison, the sex worker, and Obi, the evil one. There was a deadly nerve gas in the building, you needed to find antidotes before you all died.

I picked up earth mastery. Let me manipulate earth. Not that there was much earth around in Saw 2, but if I could get an upgrade to control metal, I was set for a lot of future missions. Inventory, for companion access, and that left 44 points.

Diplomacy looked like a solid option in Saw 2 since you were dumped with 8 people, so I picked up raid leader, going down to 19. Fluid shapeshifter and Mia form, for 9. Down to 10.

Poison maniac, because surprise nerve gas, lock picking, cause surprise locks galore.

There were a lot of options, but Death's Calling had been pretty solid last time. Nice for surprises.

I felt he should go for int. Better memory of Saw 2 meant a better survival rate. But, wisdom had saved me a lot. In the cramped corners of the house where monsters abounded I had evaded, and died to and been-

I shuddered. Wisdom it was. +3 to that. It should help with mental control as well.

I went for flexible bones. I didn't want to slice limbs endlessly, or cut my own limbs off. I looked for the other options and- they vanished.

**You do not meet the requirements for these perks.**

Oh, that sucked. Special achievement rewards then. Early access to op perks. Later then.

I was geared up. I was ready.

This time, I had made a promise to myself. I wasn't gonna get injured. I wasn't gonna get more than a scratch. Saw 2 was my vacation stop.

I went in.

**You have an option to enter an optional cutscene. Succeed and you will be awarded with 25 extra perk points. Die, and you get nothing. Do you accept Y/**N

Always love those honest options. Why even offer a choice if you're gonna grey out N?

I tapped Y.

He... I... this body swapping was weird... was sitting in a chair. His eye hurt. He smelt blood. I opened my eyes slowly, and started to adjust to the light, flickering up above. He... I was thirsty, hungry. His head felt groggy. But none of those touched me.

**You have been afflicted with panic! Negated fully by gamer's mind.**

**You have been afflicted with fear! Negated fully by gamer's mind.**

Thank you perk. A weight had been lifted off his chest. He no longer felt trapped. Even though… well. I looked around. There was a tv. A surgery box. He was in some sort of- oh. Yeah. Venus fly trap, with spiked in front and behind him and locks on and all sorts of things. He was… what was his name… Macky? Mike? He wanted to say Mike. The guy had panicked and then got face needled. This was one of the scenes to introduce Saw 2.

He saw the string, and followed it to the wall where there was a weight. Oh yeah. That was how it went. These sort of traps were pretty easy. Just don't trigger the timer, and you can figure it out in as long as you need.

**Wisdom check 17/10**

Dude could have made this observation himself, but he had all the debuffs. My brain was invincible.

He summoned the lockpick with his perk, apparently digging it out from his flesh in his arm, and got to work on the locks. He couldn't feel any wires coming off it.

**Lockpick. A set of metal pieces, designed to help crack locks. Uncommon trait, durable. 5/5 durability.**

Ooh, lockpicking advanced off crafting? Neat. He got five exp for the lock, after two minutes of work. Disease resistance had been much slower. Six minutes later, his lockpick was down 4 durability, and he was free. He slipped

**For deft action in escaping you have gained +1 dex.**

Bonus! He watched the video on the tape. This was my time to shine. Not his. This was my wit. My will. Me.

"Hello, Michael. I want to play a game."

So close with the name! Mike was basically Michael.

"Yeah, I love games." I said, sitting free and clear.

"Society would call you an informant, a rat, a snitch. I call you unworthy of the body you possess, of the life that you've been given."

"You mean I shouldn't work for the police to put bad people away? Our men in blue deserve respect, you creepy doll."

"The mask is on a spring timer. If you do not locate the key in time, the mask will close."

"Oh no, I am so terrified right now. Please, someone, save me."

"What you are looking at right now is your own body, not more than two hours ago."

The guy there- was not moving with a limp. My actions mattered.

"Gordon, represent!" I said quietly. "You da man. You were always much fairer than Amanda."

In the film he'd been limping. I had previously stopping him lopping his foot off. He'd still apparently gone nutty, but regardless, I had made a difference.

"So listen carefully, the hint is this: it's right before your eyes."

An image of an xray with the key flashed up on the video.

I finger gunned the xray. "Subtle man. Subtle. I have no idea."

"How much blood will you shed to stay alive, Michael? Live or die, make your choice."

"My religion forbids me to make sacrifices or make blood, so." I swished my fingers around, gesturing. "I'm out of here."

Door was unlocked, and I walked out.

**You have been awarded 25 perk points! You have one hour before the cutscene ends. Make it count.**

Neat. So, I had a theory. I did not know if it would work. Computers had been incredibly useful before, and I wanted more free access to computing software. But, when did I get to grind computers when locked in a house with a bunch of whackos? I had all that tech from Resident Evil land, and no skill using it.

On the street, midday, dripping with blood. I needed fast cash. I picked up the power attack perk just in case.

I went into an alley, took out my shotgun, and grabbed a fat rich dude. I loved being strong. I yanked him in, my muscles responding fluidly and powerfully. Damn, I loved my new body. All these stat buffs were making me pumped!

"Eddie Grey." I said, my hand on his mouth. Woot observation. "Insurance man. Give me two hundred bucks, or you will literally die now."

He quietly took out his wallet, and counted out some bills.

"If you scream, or tell anyone about this, I will shoot you. Remember, I know where you live. You get it."

Guy was still in shock, staring at me with his fatness, his brown hair and face.

I vanished the shotgun, and walked off.

"Wait- why?"

I looked back. "Because I'm Batman. Consider this your payback for being part of the medical industry." And walked off.

**For your first robbery, you have gained 1 level in unarmed combat.**

Score! Criminal action. Breaking the law, it works. With the time I had left, was all I could do. For the greater good.

With the cash, I got some cheap charity store clothes, a few books, some pills and washed off my eyes, and spent my last few dollars getting access to an internet cafe.

I had ten minutes left. Checking no one was looking, I swallowed a bunch of pills I had bought. Here's hoping.

I triggered picture perfect, and skimmed through my computer books, my perfect memory recording every page. Windows guides, searching guides, coding guides. I didn't have time for all of any of the books- only a minute in total. I got enough though.

Then I got to work on the computer, searching for information on the world.

**Computing has leveled up! Computing has leveled up! Computing has leveled up! Computing has leveled up! Computing has leveled up! Computing has leveled up! Computing has leveled up! Computing has leveled up! Computing has leveled up! Computing has leveled up! Computing has leveled up! Computing has leveled up!**

By the end, I hadn't got poison resistance. I knew a lot more, but I was pretty sure I had less than a minute. I took out the poison I had. This wouldn't kill my host, but it would make him pretty unhappy. I quickly typed down what had happened to him, and injected myself.

**Poison resistance level 1!**

And my world faded, as I smiled.

I... she... woke up, and once more she... I... had breasts.

She felt the magical fast acting chloroform on her lips, quickly knocking her out.

No, fuck you game. You wouldn't drag me back into this again. Not again.

When I woke up again, my true, male form replaced whoever had abducted me. Six feet in height, a manly beard of brown and red, muscles, and all that men were famed for. I was me. I had bled and died and died again for this perk. This time, I was gonna be the gamer. I was gonna beat the nerve gas death house.

* * *

Time for him to party! There will be exciting new sights! There will be hot, steamy locations! There will be drugs! There will be gift boxes filled with presents chosen for their razor like relief! And to top it off, the delicious fruity smell of neurotoxins! Everything you need, at the Nerve Gas House Vacation resort.

See https colon slash slash ibb dot co slash K0qQQGs for the map I made for this adventure.

Lheadland01 generated an even better map.

And while checking the subreddit, I saw that Samuel Jackson is starring in a new Saw film, Spiral. I too am tired of these motherfucking traps in this motherfucking room. Looking forward to seeing it.

Gatling2745. With his need for better mental stability, no free points for ninja body, but he did get earth control and poison maniac. And sadly, the other perks need higher dex or con to get naturally. Thanks for all the perks, added to the list.

Watermelonninja. They probably should have gotten the advice of a medical professional before taking heroin, yeah. And a smashing perk does sound fun.

Dragonbornthesam. I was gonna have him drop into the black guy, but your idea does sound better. So now, he is going to really confuse Amanda and Obi and everyone else watching the tape. And, Obi yanked them in the film, not Amanda this time. Since they might see their abductor having Amanda abduct them would have been a bit risky.

Zackman2k12. And thank you for ticking up the reviews.

Mistersnx. You're welcome. We may pop back to RE 7 sometime for a quick view, especially when a secret future mechanic comes into play.

So, into the vacation we go! Time for our nameless SI to have a relaxing and fun escape house challenge.


	14. Social butterfly

I stood up. My body felt powerful. Strong, tough, durable. I felt like I could run a marathon with ease, crush a tin can in my bare hand, catch an arrow out of the air.

I was the first up. We were in the house. Brick floor, brick walls, windows with a little light coming through, boarded up. All were absurdly durable. He had laced this place with steel. It was a fortress.

At the centre of the room was a big solid metal safe, and from the vents, the deadly nerve gas. As I took a deep breath of poison and went to access my inventory, many notifications popped up.

**New mechanic introduced! Imprisonment. When imprisoned, you lose access to your inventory. Escape your bonds, and you can once more access your inventory.**

Not completely unexpected. This game would be a lot easier if I could bring a breaching kit everywhere. Still, fuck you game. I feel I didn't say that enough.

**Social anxiety gained! Negated due to upgraded Gamer's mind.**

**Anxiety gained! Negated due to Gamer's mind.**

**Fragile gained! Negated due to upgraded Gamer's mind.**

Yay for not being mentally ill again.

**Deadly nerve gas. Poison is seeping into the house, slowly killing you. Lose 1/10th of your health and stamina per 12 minutes, adjusted by your constitution, poison resistance and any relevant perks. 23 minutes in your case. Physical exertion will speed this up.**

Looks like Glados had finished warming up the deadly neurotoxin emitters. I checked my status screen, trying to work out my modifiers.

**Name: Laura Hunter**

**Job: Receptionist**

**Level: 1**

**Level: 1 (0/100)**

**Title. Zombieslayer.**

**HP: 10**

**Stamina: 15**

**Strength: 20**

**Constitution: 10**

**Dexterity: 12**

**Intelligence: 16**

**Wisdom: 15**

**Luck: 1**

So with my perk and one level of poison resistance- maybe +5 for the perk, and 1 for the level, and nothing from con because my con was lame.

Laura would have been pretty fucked. With her below average con she would have been disabled earlier than everyone else.

She had some nasty mental debuffs as well. Poor woman. She was not fit for a Saw trap. They weren't always on of course, but this situation would be triggering as hell.

So, we had Daniel Marks, the corrupt detective's kid, there in the corner. Amanda, the creepy apprentice was napping on the floor. Faking bitch. Xavier, the violent gang guy. Gus, the red shirt who got killed early on to show this was serious. Jonas, the friendly black guy. Addison, the hooker with a heart of gold who got razor trapped. Me, a large muscular white man. And- Obi you motherfucker. You abducted me. He got burnt.

I checked the quest list.

50 perk points for curing each of them, minus Amanda. 100 perk points for defeating Amanda. Another 100 for escaping in under an hour. 500. I could almost double my previous haul, just from this one mission. Nice.

Obi was the first one up. He looked around, and looked surprised to see me.

"You abducted me you asshole." I said.

"No I didn't." He said, looking around, really confused.

"Yes you did! You chloroformed me."

I paused. "You were working for Saw, weren't you? Kramer."

He looked nervous, and laughed nervously. "Yeah..." Looking for a weapon.

I held up my hand. "We're both in this together now. You work with me, we get out, we have no problem. You didn't expect to be here, did you?"

He shook his head. "No, I didn't. But I didn't abduct you."

I paused. "Wait, were you after Laura? The blonde chick?"

He nodded. "I took her."

I shook my head and laughed a sad laugh. "She was our cleric! We were playing a game of dnd, I got sent out for doritos. I was wearing a blonde wig, since I was playing an elf." I smiled and shook my head. "You got the wrong guild member. Don't worry- you're not the first person to mistake an elf for a girl."

"But I took a short blonde woman- not a tall muscular brown bearded man..." He said, like he was losing his grip.

I patted his shoulder. "Lay off the ganja mate. I think you had too much. I need you to do something for me. Will you do something for me?"

He slowly nodded. "Ok..." Like he wanted to bolt. "Check the windows, they might have left a lose bolt."

Looking back at me, confused, he nodded and got to work.

Daniel Marks woke up next.

I knelled down next to him. "Hey. You were abducted too?"

He nodded, and rubbed his head. "I feel sick."

I nodded. "Me too. We'll get out of here. You're safe with me. I need you to help me though." Jonas was waking up as well.

"Hey there." I said. "We've been locked in a room with a psycho." I glanced at Amanda. "I mean by a psycho." I glanced at Obi. "I want to check the corner. Could you help Daniel reach the camera in the corner? Maybe it will have some clues." He nodded. "Ok..." Clearly still dazed from his knockout.

Addison woke up next, to my smiling face. She spoke, her voice hazy. "You need to pay extra for that..."

"I never pay. We've been abducted." I explained what was up to her, and set her a task as well- I told her that we needed to find a way out, and that there might be a loose wall panel.

Gus was up next. I explained what was up, and asked him to check the safe over. There might be some loot in it.

Xavier was second to last.

"Where the fuck am I?" He said, sitting up fast, raising his fists.

"Woah" I said. "Easy. We've been grabbed. Abducted and stuck in this room."

"We need a way out." He said. I nodded.

"I figure that. But I'm worried that whoever did this is gonna come back. You look strong. Could you beat the crap out of them? You'll need a weapon." He went to the corner and picked up a sharpened stick. "Yeah." He went to the door out, grabbed it, shook it, and stood, nervous. He was a man of action, not used to not having a solution.

Addison spoke, as she felt up the walls. "What is this, house arrest? Are we in jail?"

Jonas replied, working in the corner. I had been tossing him up more solid pieces of wood- thank you scavenge which gave me a 99% chance of getting a trait on an item- and Daniel was working on the screws on his shoulder.

"Nah, this ain't Jail man."

Addison got closer to the brick wall. "Yeah, you done a lot of time?"

I interjected. "It's America. Prison system is corrupt as well. We've all done time, I'd bet." I got several nods of agreement.

Addison found the hidden wall bar. She ripped into it, some way out, and found a key and a tape player.

**You have gained +1 wis for noticing a valuable item!**

Gus wasn't finding anything useful at the safe, and swore and tossed his top at the floor.

"They can't do this. This is kidnapping. How do you just wake up like this."

"I guess you've never been drunk before-" I and Xavier said at the same time. I grinned at him.

Gus continued on oblivious. "I saw this movie and-" I interrupted, shutting him down hard before he told some spooky ghost story.

**+1 wisdom for avoiding spooking the group!**

"I've read Adam's book." It was one of the things I had found when online. I had more skimmed the wikipedia entry. " He was stuck in a box, just like this one. Saw, the serial killer, does this. He likes traps like this. Adam was a survivor, just like we will be. So long as we don't get too emotional, just like Gordan, his loyal companion, said. We can break out of this box. Pass the tape, Addison?" I held my hand out.

She stopped. "Who made you boss?"

I thumbed myself. "I did. I know more about Saw and his ways than any of you, I'd bet. Follow my ideas, and I promise you, we can get out of here alive. Jigsaw always does fair traps." I tapped my forehead. "You just gotta think ahead, and you live. Adam did, Gordan did." I played the tape.

"Greetings and welcome. I trust that you are all wondering where you are. I can assure you that while your location is not important, what these walls offer you is important: salvation, if you earn it. Three hours from now, the door to this house will open. Unfortunately, you only have two hours to live. Right now, you are breathing in a deadly nerve agent. You've been breathing it since you arrived here. Those of you familiar with the Tokyo subway attacks" Sarin. "Will know its devastating effects on the human body. The only way to overcome it and walk out that door is to find an antidote. Several are hidden around this house. One is inside the safe in front of you. You all possess the combination to the safe. Think hard. The numbers are in the back of your mind. The clue to their order can be found over the rainbow. Once you realize what you all have in common, you will gain a better understanding of why you're here. X marks the spot for that clue, so look carefully. Let the game begin"

"Easy puzzle. Everyone here. If I find the solution to the safe, will you follow me?" I hopped up onto the safe. Damn, it felt good to be strong.

I got several nervous yeses.

"I wasn't meant to be here. I was out getting food for my group when, surprise surprise, I got abducted. None of us are really meant to be here.

Gus waved his hands. "So you can take it for yourself?" Daniel finished unhooking the camera, and the pair came back to the spectacle.

"No, so I can give it to whoever is the most loyal follower. Follow me, and you will live. Who's with me?"

Xavier held up his sharpened stick. "Maybe we just stab you and then you tell us."

I shook my head. "Nah, I won't crack. You want to live, you follow me. You got it?" He slowly nodded, and spoke. "Prove it. No more talk. Do something."

"I'll show you."

I hoped off, and checked the neck of each person, one by one. Each had a number on their neck, coloured in a rainbow colour. Honestly, the group could have solved this. When you have a riddle, one common solid way to crack it is to to consider alternate word meanings. The numbers are in the back of your mind. Back of your mind literally.

"Camera?" I asked Daniel, and he handed it to me. I used the reflective surface to read my neck mark- oh, I was me. I glanced around the room. Fluid shapeshifting, I was pretty sure, let me be whoever they wanted most. It said companions, so I was pretty sure it applied to several people at once. If I bought this woman's avatar, then I could use her form and still see myself.

To give a better example… suppose I took Master Chief as a companion, and Ethan, and Doom guy. I buy Cortana the Smurf, Mia the Zombie, and… what did Doom love? BFG the gun. Then I can be a man, but to them I look like what they desire most. I look like a smurf, and a zombie, and a big fucking gun. I get the benefits of all of my forms combined.

But, I didn't really care enough to want Laura's form. 3 points could mean a lot if spent well.

I quickly ducked behind the safe, out of sight of all, turned back into Laura, and checked my neck. Ahh.

2-5-16-11-9-8-8. Amanda didn't have a number, of course.

I unlocked it, took the syringe out- +1 int! and hoped back onto the safe, keeping an eye on Xavier.

"Give it to me." He growled, holding the spiked stick.

"No. I'm not giving it if you're gonna just murder. I'll smash it first."I twisted it in my hand, ready. Several of the group hissed.

Jonas stepped up. "Let's just calm d-" "Shut up!" We both said.

And we stood there, standing off. This was probably an uncommon diplomacy problem. Autosuccess mostly earlier, and now I was in a stand off with a gang lord.

Amanda woke up. She stood up, a little unsteady- artificial foot, haha. The trap I had put her in had worked! She grabbed at her neck. Skilled acting. Like she was back in the bear trap. She started to sway around. "No, no, no!"

I sighed. "On second thought, punch that annoying bitch in the face, and the first one is yours, Xavier."

I had rarely saw a man move so fast. He stepped up, and smacked her in the face, a blow that would leave a shiner. She stopped faking her panic then.

I hopped down, and handed him the syringe. He injected it into his neck. 50 points, woooow! "Trust me." I said.

I looked around the group, Jonas and Daniel helping the knocked down Amanda, the rest not caring that much. "Trust me, and we will get through this."

"Be emotional, and bitch, and you get the fist. Behave, and you get to be cured." I said, glaring at Amanda, bruised on the ground. That was for tying me to a pipe with a hacksaw and being a generally horrible person. Step one, at least.

I grinned. This was a great vacation.

* * *

The alpha male establishes dominance over his fellow primates, offering scarce resources in return for loyalty. But danger lurks around every corner. And perhaps, even, within his own pack!

I am doing some rewrites and edits of earlier chapters to fix issues, like scavenge giving uncommon traits not common traits, so, be forewarned, earlier chapters should have less spelling mistakes. I should find a beta sometime.

Dragonbornthesam. Obi is extremely confused, and Amanda will get her time of surprise next session.

Watermelonninja. He totally could advance surgery and first aid skills by cutting out people's kidneys. Like, he totally could have earned a lot of skills and perk points and attribute points by just murdering everyone in the room before they woke up. Named characters you fight with get serious exp bonuses.

DG2. The grind is life. Life is the grind.

Dr. Cookie Deleter. Saw 2 will cause some major changes that will be worthy of that. Is there anything you want to see Jigsaw react to specifically?

Revelash. It's explained more in this chapter.

Next chapter, onto the traps. Any suggestions for how our SI should best spend his vacation?


	15. Out of the frying pan, into the fire

I had been severely neglecting skills. My perks had gone sky high and I had several powerful magical abilities at hand. My stats had skyrocketed. But, short life times, mental illness, the need to survive had prevented me from making any serious effort to boost my skills.

The benefits were pretty incremental. As my crafting skill increased I gained a steady rush of knowledge. Ideas and concepts filled my head as my skills increased, often unrelated to what I learnt. I picked a lock, and I got a better idea of how to pick locks, as well as how to make pipe bombs and fix a tv and a host of other things.

I also got the incremental bonuses. When I made an item it might come with some special property of value. Rushing the rank up was pretty useful. I was looking forward to getting boosted items with uncommon properties.

Exp seemed to be awarded slowest if I grinded on my own, faster if I fought, and fastest in traps. Surviving dangerous situations often gave rank ups as well. I had known all this.

What I hadn't known was that if you acted like a leader and ordered people around- scared, impressionable people who were looking for any way out- you got a portion of their exp! While I might not be inventing a new wheel here, my skills were climbing up.

I was making bank as well. Everything in this house was a trap! We had stripped this room bare, and got all the loot we could.

**30 fragments of wood.**

**6 usable bricks.**

**1 tape recorder and tape.**

**1 pointed stick**

**1 syringe, empty**

**3 screws**

**1 crude rag**

**1 wooden board**

**1 segment of blinds.**

**1 string.**

**Scavenge levels up! Scavenge levels up! Scavenge levels up! Observation levels up!**

I was currently working with the rags we had ripped from the windows and the wooden board we had ripped from a cabinet. Using some of the wood scrap we had found around the room as poles, the wood as a base, the string to help carry it all…

**You have crafted a crude bag. This increases your carrying capacity, allowing you to carry more stuff. It has the properties durable, and convenient. 5/5 durability. **

It had taken 12 fragments of wood, all of the ragged cloth we had found, our string, the three nails and the wooden board, but we had it. The wood made legs on the corners, with three held in with screws, one held in with hammering, and the rag wrapped around it prevented stuff falling out. The string was hooked between two of the legs, making it easier to carry.

I got a cool 20 exp from that. 41 exp in the bag. Almost ready to max out this skill.

We could carry more loot now. It was time to tackle the door.

Amanda was skulking around, wary after her punch. The rest were pulling their weight, stripping this room bare. It was time for phase two of my plan. Death of a thousand cuts.

"Daniel, could you help me with something? I think I might have an idea on how to get the door open. Could you look through the keyhole to check for no surprises whilst I do it?"

"Ok. What am I looking for?" Asked Daniel. The kid was keen.

"Addy, key?" I asked. She tossed it to me. I caught it easily, and brought it to the lock, as Daniel looked through the keyhole.

"I can hear a ticking."

Amanda stopped pacing and spoke. "Do not attempt to use this key on the door to this room! Those were the rules."

Xavier spoke. "Fuck the rules."

I nodded. "Yeah, fuck this."

"No, no-" She lunged forward, with almost inhuman speed, and knocked the key out of my hands. "No no, this is not a good idea!"

I glanced at the notification.

**Lesser killing instinct Perk activated. **

Yes. Victory. This game had been fucking with me hard. So many perks had cool downs longer than I'd ever get. I had just forced Amanda to burn one of hers to save Daniel. This whole challenge was about fucking with his daddy, Eric the cop. I remembered. She had to keep him alive. Even if it meant burning her perks up.

Xavier was not pleased. "You bitch, what are you doing?" He said, poking her with his sharp stick.

"We have to obey the rules! Or he'll punish us." She said, sobbing.

I waved Xavier back. "It's fine. I hadn't intended to use the key anyway. I went to pick it up again. "I looked in the lock before. There's pressure on parts of the inside. I'm pretty sure someone hooked up a nasty trap to it, shotgun to the face say. I was seeing if I could work out how the inside of the lock and the key matched up, maybe find a bypass. That said- no. We don't obey the rules. We are the macgyver party." I saw Amanda flinch. She remembered that. "We are gonna cheat in every way we can. But that doesn't mean being stupid. Jigsaw warned us, we need to be ready."

The door clicked and unlocked. Gun on the other side, screwed in tight. I'd used up all my good fragments on the camera.

****You have opened the door without being shot! +1 int and +1 wisdom awarded. Rewards come to those who wait. ****

"Oh, good timing."

Jonas helped Amanda up. "How did you know? You seem to know a lot."

Amanda started to speak. "Because-"

I waved my hand. "Shut up, we don't have time to hear your backstory. You were orphaned by a trap and have dedicated your life to vengeance against traps or something dumb. Stop messing with us, and follow me."

She started again, like the annoying NPC that she was. "The tape said-" Hah I knew the bitch was faking being out. "We need to figure out what we have in common."

I responded. "What we have in common is that we're all gonna get out of here alive. Come on. Let's get out of here."

****Leadership challenge succeeded! Leadership levels up! Leadership levels up! You impart a positive condition on your followers for half an hour- inspired. 10% reduction in stamina used, and 10% less effect of negative debuffs.****

Oh neat, my upgraded diplomacy skill had advanced. I glanced at it.

****Leadership. Advanced apprentice. Level 3. Your will to command, to control, to seize is limitless. You can earn an income of 102,000 a year as a manager, and have a 3% chance of imparting an uncommon buff when leading a group. ****

Neat. Xavier was already going to the door.

"Hold a sec. Everyone, grab a brick. If an enemy appears pelt them. Daniel, could you carry the loot?

"Why me?"

"Because we're physically stronger than you and bigger, and can throw rocks better. It's important to be in the frontlines, and to support people."

"Ok fine." He sighed. Teenagers. He picked up the string on the makeshift bag, and picked it up, and everyone armed themselves with rocks.

"We need a cure. That means we don't have time for an extended search. Look for a screw driver, a coin, or anything like that- gun is too screwed in to get it off without one. Look for any open doors. If you find one, tell me. Addison, Gus, you're on overwatch duty." Rangers. "You check for any danger, look around corners. Xavier- well, I think you know what to do. Obi, help them out and smash any threats" Barbarian. "I'll support you if there's a serious threat." Artificer. He seemed pacified, now he had been cured, but I wasn't gonna push my authority with him yet. "Jonas, Gus you're our looters. Grab anything useful you see, toss it in the bag." Rogues. "Amanda… I don't know. Look pretty. As hard as that is for you. You're kinda surplus. Don't get left behind."

"Fuck you." She said. She was losing some of her fake, survivor attitude. Good.

We were getting close to the first poison notification. I wanted to get more people cured before that.

We advanced outwards, Addison and Gus leading. Xavier found a spiked bat outside, and upgraded his weapon.

"Obi, pick up the spiked stick. We need your ready to stab." He did so. He looked- surprised. I'd have to do more to win him over. I checked my reputation counter.

**Amanda. Hated. 0/10**

**Daniel. Neutral. 3****0****/10****0**

**Xavier. Trusted. 2****6****/10****0**

**Gus. Neutral. 3****4****/10****0**

**Addison. Neutral. 5****9****/10****0**

**Obi. Disliked. 9****9****/10****0**

**Jonas. Trusted. ****64****/10****0**

Most were no real surprises- Xavier liked me, since I let him punch people and cured people. Obi disliked me, since he was a psycho. Amanda hated me. Jonas though…

I moved to the loot train.

"Is it an act?" Asked Jonas.

I blinked. "Is what an act?"

"The tough guy thing. Threatening people, being all-"

Ah. "Yeah. This group just needed some discipline. We were ready to fall apart."

He nodded. "My manager is like that. He shouts at us, threatens to rip out our entrails. But he's a good guy."

"What do you do?"

"I make the best pizzas in New York." He said, proud.

"I'll have to come by sometime. When we get out of there.

I looked to check on why we had time for a full conversation. Amanda. She was scowling, and tapping the walls. Bitch, you knew exactly where everything hidden was. I didn't remember her finding any more hidden wall stuff after the start.

"Stop fucking around Amanda. We don't have all day."

"I'm trying to find hidden-"

"Yeah, after we get some cures. Don't slow the group or split the party."

She glared at me, and reluctantly started following faster.

"You are a bit hard on Amanda."

I looked at him, and spoke quietly. "Have you read Adam's book of the original Jigsaw trap?"

He shook his head. Daniel spoke up. "I have. This is- that Amanda?" I nodded. Police kids.

"He accused her of working with Jig-"

We had entered the main foyer.

Downstairs, there was the safe room. In front of that was a locked room. To the left of the safe room was locked doors that led upstairs, and to the right was a large stair room.

There were a bunch of sofas, stairs.

I clapped my hands together. "Time to break out. Amanda, Daniel, Addison, search this place for hidden doors and loot." Women and children. "Obi, Xav, Jonas, Gus, help me. We're gonna try and break out of this place."

Xavier clapped his hands. "Now you're talking. What's the plan?"

I gestured at the sofa. "Door is reinforced, I bet. Maybe the front area too. Steel planks across it all. Walls though…

Xavier tapped on the walls. "Wood. Plaster. It's not a fortress."

I nodded. "Yeah. This is an old house. They used lath and plaster, which means narrow strips of wood lathered in plaster, nailed to the wall studs and ceiling joists. So long as you avoid the studs you can stick your fist through it pretty easily. Together, I bet we can stick a sofa through it. Then we dash to a hospital and get treatment. If that doesn't work, we can try to lift the safe together. We know the entrance is there." I gestured to the door with exit painted across it. "Let's try and bust the wall next to it."

We all picked up the sofa together- some ugly ass green thing- and took it away.

Now, if I had max ranked fists and gamer's body, I could probably smash my way out of here. I'd just punch, regenerate, punch, regen, till the wall collapsed. This wasn't a game, walls would give in eventually.

In this gaming system though, my arm had a durability. 3, currently. If I tried to break something with it, my arm would break first. That's why we use objects.

"One two three- charge!" We rammed the sofa into the wall. It ripped straight through it, and broke apart in our hands.

Inside the wall were thick steel plates and planks, blocking our way out. Jigsaw, that motherfucker, had replaced the insulation with steel.

"Fuck."

Xavier looked at me. "This is a fortress?" I nodded. "Yeah. We're gonna need a bigger sofa."

We sat there for a while, and Gus coughed up some blood.

"You ok?" Asked Jonas.

"I'm not ok. I'm trapped in here just like that movie-"

I cut him off with my hand. "Stop trying to talk about the movie. Is it scary?"

"Yeah. In it the guy-"

"No! Please, no!" I said. "Never tell that story, and you're on the antidote list."

He blinked. "Really?" I nodded. "Sick get it first."

We headed back into the main stair room. I glared at the door. Just as the pipe hadn't stopped me, that door would not stop me.

Ooh, sweet exp. I now had a flashlight, a bag, rope, and Addison had done most of it.

"I found a door!" Said Addison. "If you're done with your macho bullshit." I laughed, though Xavier looked offended. "The only door-" I spoke quickly, interrupting him before he made some sexist comment. "That's fair. Women win this round. Macho bullshit will be back though. Yeah." Xavier and Jonas joined me. Obi and Gus did not. Spoilsports.

"Walls are steel lined. Jigsaw did some crazy prep for this place. We're special. He's not gonna win. Not with this team. Lead the way, Addison."

Behind me, as we went down, I heard Jonas and Xavier speaking. "That ink on your arm. It's Joilete." Prison?

Xavier went tough man. "Yeah, so?"

"I got locked in there myself."

"Yeah, you proud?"

Xavier looked at me. "You're well prepared for all this. Where did you serve time."

I shook my head. "I'm pretty sure I'm not meant to be here. I got snatched by the wrong person. I was wearing a blonde wig while going to get some snacks for my gaming group, pretty sure it was Laura who was meant to get snatched. She did some time, I know."

Amanda looked my way, and her frown deepened.

Jonas continued. "The tape said-"

"If it matters- pause everyone."

Everyone paused. "Hey, tape issue. It said we need to reveal our feelings. I don't really care. I work as a survivalist, selling camping gear. I play dnd. I like camping trips and guns. I don't care if any of you share. If it's necessary for the mission we will, like if there's a lock which unlocks by what cell block we were in- but otherwise, I don't care what you did before. I care about what you do now. Onwards!"

We all went down into the spooky basement. "Shine the light over there." I pointed, using movie memory. She shined it at a person! I rushed down. "It's ok. It's just a mannequin." I tugged out the knife and pocketed the tape and the note saying Obi's name.

Daniel turned on the light.

There was so much stuff here. The walls were covered in stuff. This was… my dream. My utopia. I felt my eyes water with happiness. And there, was the furnace.

I closed my eyes, forcing myself to look away from this treasure haul, and glanced inside. There, on the inside, was an obvious pulley system, which would lock the furnace when you tugged on a chain. Inside, was a shut off valve that would turn off the flames.

****+1 wisdom for detecting a trap!****

I walked over to Obi, as we looked around. Amanda was looking at the mannequin, trying to find the missing tape. She kept shooting looks at me.

"I found this, and this." I said to Obi.

He got an instant fearful look in his face. "Are you?"

I shook my head. "Jigsaw is trying to play us against each other. He doesn't respect your killer spirit. I do. Work with me. We can stick him in a trap for this."

He looked at me a long time. Judging me. I think he could tell I was sincere. I was someone who had killed, like him, and would really put Jigsaw in a trap.

"I like you." He said.

I checked reps. Wow. His reputation had shot up. He saw me as a friend. Yay friendship with psychos!

It was time to trigger that trap.

"Hey Daniel!" I called. He wandered over, Amanda following, suspiciously. "Do you think you could reach those syringes? They're cures, I think. It's pretty narrow in the furnace."

"Why are you always volunteering the kid!" Said Amanda, incredulous. "He's young. He shouldn't be in this danger." I clapped my hands.

"It looks like we have a volunteer. Obi, Xav- would you do the honors?" They both stepped up.

"No, you can't" said Amanda, as they picked her up, and tossed her in the furnace, as I sliced the rope and the door slammed shut. Flames started to rise from inside.

"Oh no." I said, in a flat tone as I walked around the back where there was a glass opening, and slammed my elbow through the glass, as Amanda screamed inside, and everyone ran over. I yanked out both vials of cure. "What a mistake."

Death by a thousand cuts.

* * *

In Resident Evil 7 wooden planks locked him into the house. I had them just climb out of the ladder out of the house, but really, Mia and Ethan should have been able to escape in a lot of ways. That's why I had them escape, load up, and blast their way out. Jigsaw at least always makes sure it's hard to escape.

One thing does bother me though. They talked about how the wall was just plaster, but never tried to, you know, blast through it. Like, I can punch through an old American wall with my fist. I'm sure Xavier could. If you're gonna say how thin the walls are, why not test them?

Also poor Amanda, the defender of kids, taking the brunt of all the damage. This is definitely not how she expected this house to go- but really, what did Jigsaw expect? Obi is the only one who got his intended trap. 1/6 is not great. We didn't even see Laura, Jonas, and Addison's traps. Jigsaw could have definitely tried harder.

Sanas22. It only gets worse for Mandy from here.

Sylphi. That will generally be true- but these were 8 people with no knowledge of each other and no real connections, and Laura had very few lines or backstory, so there's not a lot to do with them. That said, this is a story dedicated to the brave red shirts who are there to die to show how big a threat someone is, so Laura's story will be coming back. Physically, he has Laura's stats and body and skills.

Dragonbornthesam. Thanks for those. They shall be added to the poll, and the perk list.

Watermelonninja. Accidents are so sad. So sad.

Revelash. He doesn't know exactly what people would see, because perk descriptions aren't that informative- but I gave you his best guess.

Zackman2k12. Tomorrow is here. Glad to see you.

Dirk1229. Yep, one focused on resource gathering, social interaction, and survival against harsh odds. Not just raising numbers till you can punch your way out. And thanks, yeah. Adam wasn't very good at leading, and so the only way to karmically survive was to rely on Gordon.

So, what will happen to Amanda? Tune in next time, on Say Yes to the Incinerator.


	16. Grinding chaos

Minor author notice. The map and stat sheet, up to date, of the SI, are linked in my profile page for any who want to see them.

* * *

I love fire. I love explosions. Once, when I was a wee lad, me and a bunch of friends decided to see if sheds were flammable. We packed it full of things with flammable symbols and then tossed a piece of flaming wood at it.

Spoiler alert, sheds are flammable. That had been cool. Since then when I grew up I had become a chemistry graduate. I knew the ins and outs of a lot of chemistry and I had met a lot of people who agreed with me that more things needed to explode or be set on fire.

That's why I had a plan for this Sarin. That was what was coming in, I was pretty sure. It had been used to attack Tokyo. Aum Shinrikyo was a crazy Buddhist religious cult which used a fuck ton of lsd and believed that anime and the bible and stuff was telling them the end of the world was coming and they needed to kill people. So, they stockpiled enough Sarin to kill a couple million people and opened with the Tokyo sarin attack.

In college we had talked about this a lot. Imagine the sort of mind that sets a shed on fire because it can. Pack that sort of mind in with others just like them in a lab, rushing a term report? You got the biologists talking about tailored viruses that could wipe out races, the computer science people talking about how they could hack the old industry machines and collapse our infrastructure, the physicists talking about how easy it would be to make a dirty bomb and ruin a city, and us chemists trying to one up our friends by talking about chemical warfare.

Sarin interfered with acetylcholine degradation- I had no idea why it was causing us to cough blood. Not me yet, because I was badass, but others. It normally just caused muscle spasms and death. Even if it was something else, he'd called it a nerve gas- why was it causing bleeding? Nerves didn't bleed. Movie magic I guess. But regardless, there was a way to stop it and many other similar agents.

Activated charcoal. Burnt stuff mashed up into a fine enough powder that it would chemically bind to a bunch of toxins. That made into a paste with calcium chloride would absorb the nerve gas, letting you breathe freely and not die. You needed some other stuff to set it up, but, Amanda would have made great activated charcoal for gas masks.

She screamed as the flames crept up the furnace towards her, her flesh starting to heat and burn. The metal on the incinerator started to heat up and Jonas banged on the furnace, his hands burnt as well. "Why did you do that? You could have-"

I spoke. "She's Jigsaw's apprentice. If she isn't, I fucked up, she's gonna die. If she is? I'm sure she knows a way out."

As I spoke, she lunged. Her flesh burnt, she breathed in toxic gases, and she grabbed the wheel to turn off the gases. If we had listened to the tape (which we didn't because I wanted Obi as my thug) it would have said that the devil would save her, and next to the wheel was a devil picture) I saw her sway. The heat must be distracting her.

**Lesser desire for life perk activated! **

She twisted, new vitality and energy surging through her body, the effects of the fumes vanishing as her perk cleared them. The flames turned off, and she popped off, looking crispy and well done and pissed off.

Several of the group looked surprised, and had sudden wary looks towards her.

"You asshole! She shouted. She advanced towards me. Obi and Xavier advanced towards her, weapons in hand.

She looked over them with predator eyes. I knew she was badass. She could take them both out if she went all out. But she had a role to play. I saw the calculation in her eyes, and then the mask came back up.

She backed away, and swore. "Fuck fuck fuck you're worse than Jigsaw!" She held her head in her hands and looked very stressed.

Poor Amanda. I'll cry you a river. I'm so sorry the death house you helped set up isn't fun.

Xavier leaned in and spoke. "Looks like she's- burnt up- about this." I laughed and replied.

"She looks fieryous." I said loudly Xavier slapped my shoulder and laughed louder. Amanda swore louder at us, pacing back and forth.

Xavier leaned in. "Should we-" He slid his finger across his neck. I shook my head. "She's dropping hints for us. So long as we toss Daniel in front of a trap, she'll disarm it for us. Soft spot for kids? I dunno her game, but she's just one woman. She's useful for now. Moment she becomes a problem though-" Obi and Xavier spoke. "She dies."

"Yeah."

Xavier stood there a while, spiked bat in hand, considering something, and spoke. "I play dungeons and dragons as well." He grinned, and walked off to join the others in searching downstairs.

Finally. A bro. Obi walked up, and spoke. "I have some ideas for Amanda." I looked at him. "Did you know that her original trap was a bear trap? Find something like that, and that will fuck with her head more than anything. There might be one down here. And by the way-" I handed him a syringe.

"That's… horrible. I love it." He said, and went off to look. Psychos were great. They were horrible people and would fuck up those around them, but point them at someone you both don't like? Amazing.

Jonas came up. "Hey, what gives. Why does he get a cure" I scowled at him. "I didn't see you coming to help when Amanda came to kill me." I poked my finger against his chest. "Hey, I think we should calm down." I shook my head. "I don't calm down. Where were you?"

"I'm not a thug like all of you."

I leaned in, all calm. "I'm your is something you can do though- you said you made pizza?"

He nodded. "Yeah."

"Did you ever burn the pizzas.

"Rarely."

"We can make a cure for the toxic ourselves, with burnt organic material. Could you handle that?" He smiled. "My lungs are hurting- this will stop that? Yes. Can I take Gus with me? A second guy to help would make it faster. And I'll get a cure for this?" I nodded. "Yeah. And you'll get to live longer." Amanda would have made the best burnt charcoal, but she was a boss and so had badass powers. We had a bunch of rags and sofas and things to burn. They got to loading it up.

Whilst everyone searched downstairs, and prepped, I decided to experiment.

There was some dirt down here. I took some of it, and focused my will on it. I felt the earth, felt it's call and-

**Wisdom check 19/20 failed! You lack the emotional maturity to mold the spirit of the earth.**

And I felt a rush, as my energy drained from me, and the dirt felt to dust. The nerve gas meter rushed forward. Not long now till my first health loss.

Well, fuck. I was close though, and wisdom was a popular award here. Maybe soon.

* * *

All in all, we had a solid haul. Observation and scavenge were up to level 99 from the group, and we had-

**9 unused gas tanks (empty)**

**1 old toolkit**

**1 stepladder**

**3 clamps (courtesy of the dummy)**

**1 chair, metal**

**1 table, metal**

**9 assorted pipes**

**40 glass bottles**

**40 string**

**40 rags.**

**1 toy cars**

A lot. Jackpot. That toy car was the foundation of our survival, and Addison had found it.

She coughed up some blood, and I handed her the syringe. "Here. For you."

"Thanks." She said, and jammed it in her neck, injecting our magical non toxic cure into her neck.

"You did well. You're solid. With more like you, we could get out of here fast."

But first, we needed more.

Jigsaw had said something to me, a while back, about finding things.

"When you're good at anticipating the human mind, you leave nothing to chance. The mechanical nature of each device matters, I won't say otherwise, but you need to think about why each object is there. What the purpose was, what the previous owner was thinking. You need to research locations. Then you can find the steel needle in the haystack."

There was a trapdoor under the safe leading to Saw 1 leg saw toilet room. This house was close to it. In my time on the computer I had looked up floor plans and housing pictures for this location, and I had found a map. Locked in the stair room was the door to the kitchen.

To complete my gas mask recipe I needed calcium chloride. I had seen some pictures of the old house here that had inspired me.

I had a lockpick.

"Ok, everyone, bring it upstairs. I'm gonna see if I can crack the lock there."

I went upstairs, and began fiddling with the lock. I looked back. Daniel and Addison were carrying a heavy load of loot upstairs. Obi was looking thoughtful. Xavier was looking for something to smash. Amanda was glaring daggers at me as I snuck into a forbidden zone. Gus and Jonas were downstairs, prepping our charcoal. Back to work. After a little time, a notification popped up.

Journeyman level lock. Time to pick- 29 minutes 30 seconds.

Ah shit. I couldn't waste that much time!

**100 perk points drained! Perk activated. Master thief.**

I felt a draining and a burning sensation as memories rushed into my head. I saw myself- female- creep into a store. I saw myself picking a lock. I saw myself disable security devices. I felt a rush inside myself.

Kayla. I had to save her.

Then I was back in the moment. And the lock was unpicked. What was that?

**Gamer's mind (upgraded) under assault!**

**A new mechanic has been unlocked! Due to dissatisfaction with the gender bending nature of your previous life, when perk points are available and a needed skill from your life is needed, it will be automatically unlocked.**

I went over master thief.

**Master thief. Master level perk. Years of effort stealing and breaking sophisticated corporate locks has made you extremely good at what you do. You can see things to steal, steal them, and take what you want!**

What the hell were you doing Laura? And why was the game inventing new mechanics every single loop?

I guess it was better than having this by surprise at the start. I shook my head.

"Tada!" I said. "Come on in. Jigsaw sucks at lock making." We all filled into the kitchen.

Xavier ran towards an open cabinet and pulled out a can. "Food." I nodded. "Yeah, this place is packed. Been a long time since this place was open, years or maybe a decade. Look for honey, hardtack, ghee, dried corn, dried beans, maple syrup, pasta, ramen, oats, salt, soy sauce, sugar, tea, vanilla extract, white rice not brown, vinegar, or powdered milk. No meat. If it smells rancid or there's a slimy filth or mold, toss it." Although I could probably grind my disease resistance. I might try some. "And, whoever finds this gets the next antidote we find- pickle dill."

Everyone ran off at that. I had provided what all good leaders provide to their troops. Food.

* * *

"Ugh. This is repulsive." I said, as I ate a whole, rotten chicken from a tin.

"Is this what worshiping Nurgle feels like? Because Slaneesh, was way more up my ally. Or Tzeentch. Either mad pleasure, or mad magic. Why did I have to get disease powers instead? Send me to corruption of champions next, or dishonored to learn magic from the outsider." I said, sucking on a diseased chicken leg.

**Disease control levels up to level 20!**

With an effort of will, I crushed the disease in my mouth, so I wouldn't stink, and ran my mouth out. The things we do to grind.

I coughed up some blood. Shit. Reached the first nerve gas tick.

Addison came up to me. "I found- what were you doing?"

"Making myself strong. I'm used to this." And there was Xavier eating honey out of a jar instead like ice cream. Ugh.

"That seems dangerous."

I shrugged. "I'll be fine. What did you find?"

She spoke. "I found the pickle dill! It was buried in a cupboard way back.

"Yes!" I shouted. "Everyone! Bring your snacks. To the basement!" And went back down.

We had found many things of value in the kitchen. Knives, pots, pans, paper. My observation and scavenge had leveled up to 99, and were slowly ticking up in exp. But most of all, most valuable of all the items behind the pickle dill, was the duct tape.

Duct tape fixed all.

Using a string and some duct tape, I knocked a hole out of the bottles. Jonas and Gus had finished making the charcoal, so I mashed that up into a fine paste and mixed it with the dill, cooked that some more, and grind it up again.

You were meant to give it a lot more time, like 24 hours, but the furnace was pretty hot, and we didn't need perfect protection.

Activated charcoal in the bottle, rags around the bottle in case of hits, duct tape around the mouth and nose with some cloth to keep it secure, a string to keep it on, some rags across the opening to keep the charcoal in-

**Crude gas mask. Using household materials you have made a basic gas mask. Increases poison tick time by an hour. Durability, 2/2. Special trait, poison resistant. **

"Perfect I-" I felt a sudden pounding headache. My head was on fire. I felt like burning needles were stabbing into every neuron, ripping me apart.

**For leveling up three related common skills- observation, scavenge, and crafting- to uncommon level at the same time you have unlocked a new synthesis uncommon skill. Survival. **

I saw four machines in my head. One, a spyglass, covered in eyes that saw all. One, twisting tools of bone and metal that floated around with no connection. Another of a machine, made of rusted cogs and dull plastic, smash together. I felt a tearing pain in my brain as it expanded.

I killed, and was killed by thousand predators. I made a thousand devices, and was ripped apart by them. I saw a thousand monsters, some as vast as worlds, some with far too many eyes, and was seen by them in return.

I heard a word be shouted, as loud as the world breaking. "Summer."

And I flopped to the ground. The last thing I heard was Amanda's laughter.

* * *

A new badass ability is unlocked. All it cost was making Amanda happy by collapsing. And yeah, as someone who has done a lot of research on chemical weapons, this film was by far the most offensive and sadistic film to my senses.

Sarin doesn't cause you to randomly bleed! And nerve gases impact your nerves, not your circulatory system. And there's no magic antidotes to them, you can't be around them without being fucked up. Plus, I am pretty sure they didn't change Danny's clothes. Sarin can outgas off clothes, his daddy or anyone who found them would be fucked up. Uggggh.

The gore and murder was pretty cool though.

Arkyong. Because I post most days, and 2000-4000 words a day is my limit.

Dr. Cookie Deleter. Sure then, Jigsaw will get a cutscene where we see what happened to Amanda's foot later on then. We can see what he was thinking. A bit of time for that. Amanda is cooking, but she's not yet done for an assault. Too many perks left.

DG2. Yeah, Jigsaw is fair. She got out. She has a bunch of powerful perks so she can survive a lot. But all those perks have a timer of a day or more.

Acespeedninja. Thanks. I hope for many more fun endings.

Watermelonninja. He totally could tie people up for shit and giggles, but in Saw, love and romance tends to be more about murdering people for your loved one and cutting off body parts. It's not the most romantic of film series. He would have to go far against fate to make Saw into a romance. That said, he would lol if he managed to make Saw into a harem anime.

Dikr1229. Yeah, he is getting a lot of stress relief. He's bonding, he's working hard, he's making friends, and he's getting to fuck over his captor more. And we all have a little Obi in us. Our inner Obi must be directed towards the cause of good, and all will be fine.

Thorison. Tune in soon to see!

Gatling2745. Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it's enemy action. Jigsaw is wary, but he's not yet upgrading security, though the house is a bit reinforced above the norm. And the butterfly effect will be in full force soon. Events will change mightily, before Saw 2 is over.

Next time, we shall be back to traps. And we shall see why the racing car is the best tool in the house.


	17. A ten foot pole

I got up, my head pounding. Xavier was shouting something.

"Stay away from him."

Addison was there as well. "Get back or I'll hit you."

"He's just slowing us down. We need to listen to the tapes and work our way through this." Said Amanda.

My head was pounding. I could feel the lines of knowledge arrange themselves in my head. How to hunt, how to kill, how to spot predators, how to build countless devices for survival. I could still feel the terror of being hunted by something larger than any earthly creature.

My brain had been getting better at dealing with the wisdom and int upgrades. I already had a solid base to build on. Small modifications were doing less. This skill though. Damn. Had a hell of a kick.

I checked the toxin timer. It was pretty useful having an inbuilt clock. Only a minute had passed.

"Guys- I think I just built this too fast. We need to get more cures. Or more of us might get this. My mask-"

It was down to 1 durability from the fall.

"We have enough activated charcoal to make one more." I glanced around the room. Addison was standing with me! She had picked up my knife. Obi was in between, not sure who to side with. Jonas was with me! Daniel was a bit confused, as was Gus. Amanda was glaring daggers at me. If I hadn't had Xavier there, I bet she'd have tried something.

"Sad you didn't get to off me. We know your game." I said, at Amanda.

"Jigsaw's game is the only game. We need to play it to get out of here." I waved my hand, grabbing components.

"Yeah yeah, let's go upstairs. Jonas, you get the next one." He was definitely in my inner circle. Xavier, Addison, and Jonas were my core trusted confidants. Daniel, Gus, and Obi were uncertain, and Amanda was the enemy.

Obi's reputation counter had gone down with me. What gives? Ugh.

I got up, a little unsteady. Xavier offered me a hand, and I came up. "You ok?" I nodded. "As much as I can be here. We need to find more cures. Let's head upstairs."

The skill upgrade did come with some nice benefits.

**Survival. Rare advanced apprentice skill. Your will to survive knows no bounds. You can see, craft, and find whatever you need, and make crude implements out of the most impossible of tools. Once a day, you can force an additional use out of a found or created object. More benefits may come with increasing levels. Level 1 0/100 exp. **

I wasn't sure what rare skills were, but it sounded good. I was able to craft a second and a third mask much faster, in just thirty seconds each. The movements were fluid and routine, like I had done them a thousand times. Jonas and Daniel got them. As we headed upstairs- oh yeah, the group was going. My head was still fuzzy- we were checking each door, and I went to Daniel and started on my next creation.

Using the screwdriver from the toolbox we found, I started to unscrew the camera.

"You see this at the back? This is the circuitboard that handles all the inputs and outputs to the camera. Handles sending the video signal to the main hub, through this cable." I tugged a black cable.

I pointed at a part of the mother board. "This part here handles passwords and security. But see the pathway- it's not actually necessary for the functioning of the circuitboard.

I scratched it out with my screwdriver.

"That seems risky."

"It's fine."

This was my other big computer task in my ten minutes. I had found a circuit drawing online for the camera model here.

"Now inside, see, we can yank this off, and unscrew this-" We got upstairs. "And there's a second brain, the motherboard for the camera. It connects to these two motors, see-" I pointed with my screwdriver to the two black motors. "Which allow it to go back and forth. This here." I pointed on the circuitboard. "Links up with the camera. There's a zoom function there, to allow you to get in closer."

"This is interesting." Daniel said, not finding it that interesting. "But why are you telling me this?"

"Because I am going to make us a scout robot."

"Oh, that is cool. What will it do?"

"Stab things. He's called megatron."

"Like that transforming robot?"

I nodded. "Yeah, he'll transform like him."

We checked the doors one by one. We found the needle trap room.

"I think I can force it." Said Xavier, putting his shoulder in. There was a lot of resistance.

"If it's like that it's a trap." Said Amanda.

I sighed. "For once I agree. I'm preparing a solution. Let's try the other doors."

A little walking onwards got us to the razor trap room. Books filled the corners, and in the center was a glass trap. Two holes were under it, and a syringe was suspended underneath it. A letter addressed to Gus with a tape in it hung on some string.

I walked over to a book, and picked it up. "Summon elemental please?" I glanced at it. No pop up appeared to grant me magic skills. It appeared to be a book on local herb life. I skimmed through it. Some were pretty toxic. Useless. I glanced back at the center and- oh fuck. Gus saw it, and was hungry.

"A cure. He doesn't care about us! I'm gonna get it! It's mine." He ran forward, and stuck a hand inside. As he did, razor blades lifted up with his hand.

"Stop Gus. Razors." He paused and looked up, a look of shock on his face. "God, you're an idiot." "I can still get it!" He said, and stuck his other hand into the hole.

"Why would you think that's a good idea- Xavier, hold him still. Xavier came up to him, and held his arms still, easily overpowering him.

"What are you doing!" Asked Gus, still trying to reach the syringe.

I responded. "You'll knock it over. Stop moving or they'll slice you. You idiot."

I went and pointed. "Lesson time, any other children who think they should rush ahead. Daniel, you have the stepladder." He nodded, and brought his bag forward. I pulled it out, and climbed up to the top.

Addison had been trapped by this, but she had been dying so that was fair.

"Addison, you're smart. Do you think you can solve this puzzle?"

I played the tape.

"Hello Gus. I want to play a game. You exploited your business and your people, taking out your rage on those around you, stripping the flesh bare off your employees. Now it's you who has to strip your flesh bare. There's no one to take your anger out about this if you fail but yourself. Will you reach for the cookie in the cookie jar? And remember, there's always an upside to things."

She looked over the trap. "Upside- there's a key on top!"

**You gain +1 wisdom for a follower noticing the hidden opening!**

She unscrewed it, yanked out the syringe, and held it up." "Mine now." I nodded. "Yep, you won it fair and square. Decide who deserves it. Does gus deserve it?" She shook her head. Gus spoke. "Come on, it's my syringe!" She spat at him. "You puta. He's trying to keep us safe, and you just ignore him? Screw you."

She came down, and offered it to me. "Take it for yourself." I smiled, and injected myself. I breathed in deep, as the magical cure healed me.

**Nerve toxic cured. Poison resistance levels up! Poison resistance levels up!**

I took off the gas mask, tearing away the duct tape and some beard hair, and breathed in clear air.

"That feels amazing." I said. I offered the gas mask to Amanda. "Here, do you want it? This toxin could kill you."

She shook her head. "Why would I take something from you? I doubt they even work."

I smiled. "You are looking very well. I haven't seen you cough up any blood."

"I prefer not to be watched. Fuck off." She shot back.

Xavier and Obi and Addison were looking on knowingly, and Jonas was looking disturbed, and scared. Daniel was unsure. Like, Amanda was clearly not being poisoned. I didn't want to say it, but they had to see it. Gus was getting increasingly agitated. Oh, Gus.

"Daniel, my man, score me some rags? I promise I'll pay our quartermaster later." He tossed me some rags and said something behind his mask. I'm not sure what.

I wrapped the cloth around my hands, and carefully forced the blades open, getting Gus's hands out one by one. This wasn't a hard trap. None of the traps in this house were. You could tell Jigsaw had made them, not Amanda.

"You have to be careful, Gus."

He shouted at me. "You're just trying to fuck us over. You promised me a cure."

I shook my head. "You were on the list. You would have been next, I'd have let you try this trap- but you rushed ahead. There's more cures in the house, there has to be. And, you get a gas mask."

I handed him my old one. He looked at it, a bit disgusted. "You can use some new tape. No need to get my beard hair on you." I patted his shoulder, and continued on.

Jonas came to me over. "Amanda isn't getting sick." He said, as we continued on upstairs, and I fiddled with megatron. This used survival a bit, but it used computers a lot and my computers skill was pretty low.

I nodded. "Yeah, no blood." Something was eating away at me. I wasn't quite sure what it was. Something about the toxins here. I couldn't put it together. Something was wrong. I wasn't sure what. I got flashes from Laura. Of vials and pills. I wasn't sure what it meant. Why were her memories leaking in?

I glanced at one of the empty syringes.

**A cure to the poison. Will stop you from being sick. Provided by your friendly neighborhood puppet. 0/1 uses.**

And I had checked. My survival power didn't let me multiply the cure, sadly.

"So she's really… Jigsaw's apprentice."

"Yeah. Shouldn't we take her out? Try to force her to get us out? Or something..." He trailed off.

I shook my head. "I don't wanna spook her. It wouldn't surprise me if she had some traps ready. We go in too early, she'll run off and start fucking with us." I checked. Amanda was pretty far off, half assedly pulling off wallpaper. 2/10 for effort.

"I'm glad you're in here with us." He said. I smiled at him.

"I'm glad to be in with you too. After this is over, you are gonna have to pay me back for this with a lot of pizza. You owe me."

He laughed. "I do. I'll do that. When we get out."

There was another unlocked door on the other side of upstairs. Right of the stairs was the razor trap and the needle trap. Left, they'd ignored in the film because they was silly. There were lots of locked doors we could try, but I wanted cures soon. Jonas and Daniel and Gus were getting worse.

I stood outside the door. "Ok. My disciple, Xavier. How do we test new doors?"

He grinned. "With a ten foot pole." He got well out of the way, and started to push the door open. There was a little give-"

"Wait! There's a tripwire."

Xavier paused.

"Addison, would you hand me the knife please? And two something heavies, with holes in them."

"Sure." She handed me a pair of kettles, and the knife. "What are you doing with them?"

I gestured at the wire. "There was a wire like this in the oven, which Amanda so kindly helped us with. He puts quite a lot of give in them. I'm gonna cut it, and you two." I gestured at Jonas and Addison. "Are gonna hold each end of the wire. I'll tie the kettle on, and that will keep them snapping back. Then we open, and slowly move inside. Got it?"

She nodded, and got in close to me. Jonas knelt on the other side of me. I was very squished.

"Ok. Now. I'm gonna cut on three. You both have a grip on the wire? Hold onto it tight. In fact-" I took out the tape, and taped both of their hands to the wire. "Don't let go. Don't do what Rose did in Titanic. Don't kill Jack. I used the knife, and cut the tripwire. Both of them held onto it well.

Then, I pushed the kettles into the door, and one by one tied off the wire ends onto the heavy metal kettles. "Now, I'm gonna slowly open the door. Keep a grip on the wire as we open. Don't rely on the kettles to keep up the tension. Xavier?" I asked. He slowly pushed the door open, and I crept in. It was dark.

"Daniel, flashlight?" "Sure."

He handed it to me. I shined it around the room and-

A dog started barking. A brown haired, mangy looking dog started barking loudly at us. And on it's neck- another vial! It was chained to the wall. I glanced back at the pair.

Jonas had almost lost his grip, but the kettle kept the weight on. Thank Tzeentch. I looked left and right, to see where the tripwires went. Addison, on my left, her side was just clipped to the wall, Jonas' side- ah yeah. Mechanical slider, would have activated a platform. Like the venus fly trap I'd been in before.

Jigsaw loved his tripwires. Very old school. I looked around, and saw a light, and flicked it on.

"Addison, get free. Jonas, we're gonna move the kettle over there. There's some… bed. Yeah. And a wardrobe. I think the wardrobe is in reach. Wedge the kettle in there. That will stop it." I gestured at the side, ignoring the dog for now.

Addison spoke. "What's with the dog- oh, it has a syringe!"

Gus came, and knocked me over, trying to get to the dog. My face planted to the ground, and I breathed out a sharp breath. "Mine!" He said. I heard a loud hit. I looked up. Xavier had grabbed him, and slammed him to the ground. "Stop running ahead!" He pointed the spiked club at him. "Stay there" Xavier kicked Gus in the crotch for good measure." Gus lay there, groaning in pain.

"You're all assholes." He said.

I got up. "Thanks Xavier. That dog looks scared as fuck. It might have smashed the vial.

I looked at the dog.

**Sick, poisoned, homeless hybrid terrier. Current emotional state. Confused, hungry, in pain. 4/5 HP**

It was brown, with tattered fur, one eye damaged, and looking sad. Now that there were several of us in the room, it was looking pretty scared, and backing into a corner.

Amanda spoke up, leaning in. "Pitbulls are really aggressive. You'll have to put it down to get out." I don't ride anyone's railroads, and especially not hers. What was this meant to be- a hard choice? Kill the dog, get the cure? Do you value life enough to murder for it? Nope.

"Fuck you."I said. "Pitbulls, which this isn't really, aren't aggressive. Dogs that haven't been neutered are. Fuck you, dog hater. Xavier, you still got any of that honey."

He scowled. "We're gonna waste it on a dog?"

Yes. I was definitely a dog person. "No, we're gonna waste it on a cure." He groaned and sighed and made noises, but tossed me the half eaten jar of honey. I took out some on one of our pilfered kitchen spoons, and went to the dog, looking to the side, crouching low so I wouldn't project aggression.

"Hey buddy. Here boy. Boy." I stood a little way away. The dog looked down, fearful, then sniffed. He smelt the honey. Nervously, expecting abuse, he came towards me.

Oooh, there was a note for Jonas on the bed. This was his trap? Weird. What had he been up to.

I shook my head, and focused on the dog again. I gave it the honey.

It looked left and right, and then went to eat it, hurriedly, expecting it to be taken away.

I took several more spoonfuls of honey, and put it on the floor. Seeing nothing wrong, the dog went to eating it. I got a bit closer, and held out my hand.

The dog sniffed it, learning my scent, and then nuzzled my hand. It went to eating the honey. I got closer to it, and circled a finger around it's wounds. Several parasites, several infections. This dog had been on the down and out even before Jigsaw had come to it. Now, it was doing really badly.

I quickly purchased the perk to cure diseases, gently touched the dog- he flinched, and then leaned into my hand, starved of touch- and pushed out my power.

I crushed diseases, worms, viruses, everything wrong inside. I couldn't touch the poison, but I could stop everything else fucking up.

And the dog healed, under my touch. As the pains soothed, the dog continued to eat, and leaned into me more and more, till we were hugging.

I sighed, and leaned into them, my stamina exhausted. Best vacation ever.

* * *

Now he has a dog. Time to transition into John Wick in 3... 2... 1...

The pitbull was a trap. It was meant to be in the basement for Obi, with his tape in it. We're short a few traps, so I repurposed it as Jonas' trap. The group wasn't meant to get access to the kitchen, and feeding him honey was not the intended solution.

Gus's tape is also invented, based on some stuff in the commentary on the DVD. They really should have shown more traps.

Arkyong. Glad you enjoy it!

Watermelonninja. This would be a super fun anime. And yeah, Bozak's games in dying light would be fun. My SI doesn't know parkour so he would not do well at first. He's mega strong, he could leap well, but the falls might be harder.

DG2. He wants to kill Amanda. But she has perk armor. Perk armor he is slowly eroding.

Thorison1080. The survival skill made him collapse because he got too much knowledge, which made Amanda happy as it was a chance to potentially take out Macgyver. And nah, writing this story is fun. Plus I have canon to help, so it's not super hard.

Mistersnx. Almost, but for the power of friendship and spiked clubs. I haven't played zero escape, I should, it looks fun.

Next chapter, we can see what hijinks he and his doggie get up to. Any name suggestions for the dog?


	18. Good doggo

Something was very wrong. I wanted to spend half an hour with a board and photos and strings mapping out recent events, making connections, figuring it out. It was eating at me. I knew there was something I had missed.

What had Amanda meant to do with me? She couldn't stab me without blowing my cover. What was her plan? Did she think she could stealthily attack me? Was there a gas vent she was gonna help my face into? Was she gonna check me for magical gamer tattoos or something?

I had too many puzzle pieces, few corners, and not enough information to solve it. It was eating away at me. And that wasn't the only thing. Why was Obi not warming to me? With him and Xavier on my side we could probably take out Amanda, but he wasn't warming to me.

**Pressure on gamer's mind increasing.**

Ominous.

I did a health check up of doggo. Eyes. One was a bit swollen. A bit droopy. Tremours in my arms. It had been infected. I'd cleared that, but there were still some toxins. They were both responsive to light. I checked their ears. Some pus. They'd also been infected, but that had been cleared. No serious damage. Teeth felt fine. No rotting or damage. I checked their neck. No microchip. Weird vaccination location. Shouldn't be on the front of the neck. Heartbeat was steady, but fast, lungs sounded fine, if fast breathing. Had been a bit abnormal before in my disease check up, but I'd cleared that. Temperature was still elevated, but it would come down with time. Fleas were dead, eggs were dead. Still some lumps and bumps and scratches. Skin was flakey, and a bit tight. Some dehydration.

They'd vomited a few times. They were pretty unhappy

They clearly weren't in good health.

**Wisdom check 20/25 failed.**

Wait- Jigsaw puzzles. A failed wisdom check. I tugged at the dog's face. This couldn't be Jigsaw himself, hiding in a furry suit!

No, they were a dog. Good. I'd been scared for a second there.

"Found it!" Said Addison. She had been searching through a wardrobe for the key. She tossed it to me. I caught it. "Thanks. How did you get so good at finding things."

"In my profession, you learn to keep an open eye." She tapped her finger by her eye. I guess she probably had high ranks in some observe variant for sex workers. Yay her.

Xavier spoke. "That's not the only thing you keep open."

"At least I don't open other people's veins."

"Guys, guys, don't fight. Daddy loves you both." I finished unlocking the dog's chains, and went to the letter.

"So, guys. Want to bet out what creepy shit Jonas was up to, that got him a dog puzzle?" I asked, holding the tape.

"I bet fucking dogs." Said Addison.

"I bet he made those dogs into pizzas." Offered Xavier.

Daniel offered his contribution, lifting up his mask. "Hot dogs, hot dogs for all. Made with real love."

Jonas shook his head. "Haha, very funny. I'm a volunteer vet, in my spare time."

I gestured to the tape. "Whoever gets closest gets to decide what happens to the next cure. Any other bets?"

Gus offered one. "I bet he ran an illegal puppy farm." Jonas swore at him. "What do you guys think of me?"

I gestured at him. "The over eager man has his bet. Obi. You wanna get in on the action?"

"This is a dumb game." I nodded. "Yes it is. Amanda?"

She paused, and looked at Daniel. "He was a volunteer vet, as he said, but he neglected his advancement because of it." The dog growled in my arms, as she spoke, suddenly scared.

"A boring answer by Amanda. Let's find out."

I played the tape.

"Hello, Jonas. You're probably wondering why you're here. I'll tell you where you're not going. Anywhere in life. You go from job to job purposeless, pathetic, letting others control you. Your only focus is on helping animals, rather than your fellow man, and leading dogs to hurt others. I see someone apathetic and unwilling to contribute. Well now you have a chance to contribute. So are you going to die today, Jonas, or are you gonna do something about it?"

I ehhhed. "Honestly, he was just phoning it in there. None of that screams 'lock me in a nerve gas house'. Just because you don't have a traditional career, like vet care, or photography, doesn't mean you don't have meaning in your life. How were your dogs hurting others?"

Jonas sighed. "I trained several drug sniffer dogs." I gestured at him. "Ah, that makes sense. Jigsaw hates the popo. What did you sniff out with them?"

"I trained them to sniff out a lot of things. We've been focusing recently on prescription drug abuse. A lot of people sell on their medication."

I paused. "Did you ever… help the dogs, or see them help a man with blonde hair, brain cancer, thin looks-" He shook his head. "No- but I did see them arrest a doctor. Her husband looked like that and sounded crazy. I wasn't even involved, but he told me that my dogs were wrong."

I snapped my fingers. "Jill tuck?"

He nodded. "Yeah, her."

"Oh snap. Your dogs got Jigsaw's wife. This is personal. What was she up to?" Should I have said that?

"Selling methadone to patients."

"That cheater. I bet he didn't believe it."

"Nope. He said she'd been set up. By Eric Matthews."

Gus looked uncomfortable. "I knew Jill. She was kind. Was that why I was brought here? And I was arrested by Eric Matthews." A chorus of assents came. Crap. This is why you didn't listen to tapes.

"Hey kid. Did Eric lock you up?" Asked Xavier, to Daniel Matthews. Crap. I couldn't have the group collapse.

"No, he didn't. I'm-" He looked from side to side, at the angry people.

"What about you?" He asked me. I shook my head. "Nah, they got the wrong person. I'm pretty sure they meant to snatch Laura. I was driving her car. She did get arrested for shoplifting by him."

Addison stepped up. "Wait, I know you. You're Daniel Matthews. You were his son!" She held the knife up. "Your daddy locked me up on false evidence!" Jonas stepped in front of the boy, as did Amanda, and Xavier and Gus stepped towards Daniel, weapons raised. "It's not his fault!" Jonas said. "He was just a kid."

Doggo was getting pretty agitated, but I calmed them down with some honey.

"Woah." I said. "Everyone pause. This is getting out of control. Daniel, what's your opinion on your father?"

Daniel looked from side to side, like he was seeking permission, then spoke. "He's a cheat and a liar. My mom left him because he cheated on her with his partner. I hate him." He spoke.

I nodded. "And he hurt a lot of innocent people here. Will you help them get revenge on him?"

"I will. He deserves it all. He's why we're in here."

"Yeah." I said. "He is. And when we all get out alive, we can put him in a trap worse than any here. Anyone disagree?"

Xavier spoke. "I bet seeing his kid hurt would hurt him more than anything."

I gestured at him. "Maybe. We can use Daniel in videos. Make Eric think he needs to self harm to escape. We just need to get out first. You ok with that?" He calmed down, and swished his spiked club.

"Fine."

**Leadership challenge passed! Leadership levels up. Leadership levels up!**

I sighed in relief, and I handed the antidote syringe to Amanda. "You won the bet. You know the rules. Who do you want to get it?" She looked around, and handed it to Daniel. "For being honest." He took the syringe, and injected himself, and took off his mask. "Thanks." I saw suspicion in his eyes though.

Amanda was very good at guessing what was on tapes she hadn't heard.

I looked at relationship statuses.

**Amanda. Kill on sight. 0/100**

**Daniel. Neutral. 80/100**

**Xavier. Close friend. 36/100**

**Gus. Disliked. 2/100**

**Addison. Obsessed. 12/100**

**Obi. Hated. 30/100**

**Jonas. Friend. 13/100**

Obi had gone down. What had happened? I wasn't sure.

We went onto the next room, and just as we got in, I completed Megatron.

**Computer levels up!**

Megatron was an abomination. Several computer brains hacked together, lobotomized, wired together in a mad way. Using the racing car, and some metal to give it stability he could move on. But Megatron was not unarmed. Mounted on him was a camera with the lens ripped out, and a mount for a knife. Trailing wires ripped from the wall led out behind him.

A customizable, wire controlled abomination. My abomination. Not a lot of range, though we could extend it with more wire if necessary. Battery powered by the torch battery. Ready to fight.

And we needed him. The next room was a toilet, and in front of it, mounted in the wall was a spinning door. Glass. I could see wires mounted on it.

On the other side was a chair, with a mirror mounted in front of it. There was a glass box mounted in front of it. The chair's arms had clamps mounted to it, criss crossed, with wires leading off it. In front of it, hanging over, was another. There was a note, addressed to Addison on the wall.

"Want to do the honors?" I asked her. Still a bit tense, she snapped up the tape, and played it.

"Fine."

"Addison. You're a beautiful girl, who could have gone many places in the world. You chose to waste your life selling your looks, lacking the confidence to chose a better path. Now you have a chance to save yourself. Sit down, put your arms down, and relax. But are you willing to sacrifice your looks for your life?"

I looked at Addison. "I am deeply for him. Old people are often pretty regressive. I respect your choice to do sex work, and you have never shown any shortage of confidence. I'm proud to have you by my side. Ready to beat this trap?"

I honestly wasn't completely sure. Maybe one of us could go in with armor? But I wasn't sure what would stand up to it. There were enough tripwires to make things go wrong. I was pretty sure the idea was you squeezed in, triggered the door tripwires or pressure pads, a timer started, sat on the chair, put your arms in, and had to use your face to push open the thing to get the syringe.

I really wasn't sure how to solve it. I could maybe do something with the robot but… or maybe inside I could smash into the case. Looking at it with my survivor sense, I was pretty sure that the arm rests were pressure connected to the face mask. I couldn't see any other connections. You pressed down on them, they locked, and the face thing opened. The angles weren't good.

"Why are you making us do this? You're smart. You solve this." She stormed off. I sighed. "Xavier? How about you." He grinned. "We smash the glass and-" I shook my head. "Trip wires everywhere. If we smash our way through it'll probably smash the cure."

"Send the dog through to get it."

"They're not trained-" Waiiiiit. Wait wait wait.

I looked at the dog going with us.

Invite to party.

The dog accepted, somehow.

Food? Cuddles?

They could send me messages. Wow. This was weird. Maybe I could make it work.

And I could give it perks! I gave it the poison resistance perk. It instantly looked better. It's heart rate went down, it looked less sick.

What I needed to do was to trigger the arm rests, without locking myself in. The dog was light enough to not set off pressure pads, I was pretty sure- from my efforts poking them with a stick, they seemed to have a bit too much resistance.

"Jonas, help me." I ordered. He nodded, and took the other end of a rope.

I sent a command to the dog. "Step over the wire. Don't touch it."

They did.

I picked up a kettle. "Put it on my foot." I put it down.

I got a message. "Honey?" I took out the honey jar, and gestured at my foot again.

He picked up the kettle, and put it on my foot. Yeaaah! I gave the dog some honey.

**You have gained a skill! Animal handling. **

I looked at Xavier. "You are a genius." He grinned. "I am. So, the dog is gonna fetch it?"

Jonas spoke. "You're great with animals. I've never seen an animal obey someone that fast."

"I am. I surprise myself sometimes. And yeah. We need to weigh the two arms with something- a kettle would work for each I think. Maybe two. Then we need to open the metal gate in front of the case. I think we can do this."

Doggo, his provisional name, walked into the waffle trap room, eager for honey. In their mouth, they carried a kettle. They'd worked with their two new friends, the human who smelt of old meat and power, and the human who smelt of other dogs and kindness. They just had to put it on the thing their friend had pointed to, and they'd get honey. They stepped over a stick, and put the kettle down, and ran back for honey. Their friend told them to do it again, with another kettle. They did it, and got more honey. They did the same for the other stick on the thing their friend pointed at.

Then, their friend had a strange request. They had made a toy for him! Circles on each side, and mounted on the middle, a circular metal object, like those food came in. They often waited outside the human's homes, hoping for a circle of food. But there was no food in this circle. Above it was a sharp stick.

The woman who had brought him here was there, outside. He hoped his new friend would protect him. She'd been so cruel. She'd offered him meat, and then there was sudden pain. He'd felt really nervous and agitated after. Like he wanted to fight. But his new friend had come along with honey and he felt better.

He picked up the toy, scratching away the vine coming out from behind it, and went into the room, avoiding the thin sticks in the room. They hopped up on the chair, and held the toy up to the metal, just like they had been told.

It moved! The sharp stick on it pushed open the metal. He could feel the heat coming off, smell it. He didn't want to get close. He shuddered. The toy wiggled in his mouth. He better get a lot of honey for it. It moved the food circle below the thing inside- some plant, he could smell- and waved it's head with the sharp stick. The plant fell into the bowl, and he brought it back to his friend.

I blinked. Woah. That was a weird cutscene. I was inside the dog's head. Being a dog was weird. Strange game. But look! He had retrieved the syringe.

**You have earned +1 dex (suspended) for having a party member retrieve the cure!**

I held it out to Jonas. "You earned it. Thanks for the dog advice. You're a good trainer."

He started to inject himself then paused. "Do you think the dog-"

I looked down at Doggo. "They're poisoned, but they're not coughing up blood. Any idea what's up with them.

He inspected Doggo. "Maybe… cocaine? I've seen some of the local gangs inject it into dogs, to make them better guards. Doesn't tend to work that well. He looks like he's coming off it pretty well."

I blinked "Oh yeah. That was- I found a vaccination mark on their neck?"

He looked surprised. "Where?"

I knelt down and pointed. He gently took the dog's neck, as doggo ate honey. "You normally can't feel injection marks. On humans they're more visible, but dog pelts are less connected to the underlying tissue. That's why you can feel them moving around when you touch them. This injection mark- someone really dug the needle in." Amanda. "And was pretty brutal about it."

I looked at Amanda quickly and looked back, and spoke more quietly. "He seems real nervous around Amanda."

We checked out Laura's room. It was basically a T shaped set of pipes, with hydraulic presses above and below it. There was a second set of pipes, filled with glass beads above it. You had to crawl through the pipes, and there was a glass case in the middle- no thanks.

Xavier's needle trap had all the cures we needed.

Addison came to me after.

"Look…" she said.

I shook my head. "I shouldn't have tried to make you do your room."

She nodded. "I appreciate you trying to help us. And, I wouldn't have thought of using the dog. I don't like my identity getting out, you know?"

"I won't tell anyone. Do you like your job? Because I can get you a better one. Twice as much money, and super flexible."

"Twice as much money as you make."

"You don't know how much I make."

"Name a number."

"A million dollars a year."

I shrugged. "Done. Two million a year." I had a plan.

She looked at me strangely. "You're being honest. What would you have said if I said a billion?"

"That you must have one magic body."

She smiled. "I do. Will I have to use my body for the job?"

I shrugged. "We all have to make sacrifices."

We headed back to the needle room, using the robot knife as a mirror to look inside. That let us easily get in without tripping the tripwires and setting off the timer. After we got there, we played the tape.

"Hello, Xavier. I want to play a game. The game I want to play is very similar to the one that you've been playing as a drug dealer. The game of offering hope to the desperate, for a price. I think we can agree that your situation is desperate. So I offer you hope. The price that you pay is that you must crawl into the same pit of squalor you force your customers into. By entering this room, a timer has been started. When the timer expires, the door in front of you will be locked forever. Only in finding the key before the timer runs out can you unlock and retrieve the antidote inside. I will give you just one hint as to where that key is: it will be like finding a needle in a haystack. Let the game begin."

I uncovered the needle pit. Tens of thousands of dirty, disease covered needles, one of them with a hidden key inside.

Amanda spoke, dismissively. "You got another Macgyver plan for this."

I shook my head. "No, this one is pretty perfectly designed. I can't see any way whatsoever to bypass it. This is Jigsaw's masterpiece. And by the way. Thank you for volunteering!

Xavier and Jonas stepped forward. Xavier spoke slowly. "I'm looking forward to this." Jonas spoke, angry. "Fuck you."

I looked at Amanda. "Thank you. Taking one for the cause." I finger gunned her, as Jonas, and Xavier went towards her.

"No, not again!" She said, moving her burnt body away. "This is his trap! You can't-" Xavier and Jonas grabbed her, Jonas looking very angry.

Amanda went flying into the needle pit.

Never fuck with a man's dog.

* * *

Really, that's lesson one of handling people. Kill them, not their relatives. Also, anyone who manages to guess what the SI did not gets a special prize.

Poll up as well for the dog name. Dog shall be staying around for a while. Check my profile to see it.

Dragonbornthesam. Sadly, there are no easy fast stat growth routes to power. He already gets to respec every mission, he has enough firepower.

Thorison1080. I hope you mean micgyver not macgyver, because micgyver is added.

Hitgamer22. Name added. It would be funny if he was Nick.

Arkyong. Name added.

Dr Cookie Deleter. Name also added.

DG2. Soon. Soooooon. Vengeance must be had, for the cocaine injection.

Gatling2745. Name added, and thank you for the compliments. Reviews fuel my work.

Watermelonninja. Stalker would be fun. I'll add it to the world list.

Mistersnx, Recieve The wind, names added.

Zackman2k12. The first two names are added.

Guest. Nope, the plan is to do all the Saw movies, and maybe some of the comics and games.

See you next time. And we shall see if anyone guesses the surprise planned.


	19. Open secret

Amanda screamed as she fell into the pit. Needles pierced her skin, and she screamed again, at the forced reminder of her days as a druggie. This wasn't a happy day for her. I sat at the edge of the pit, eating spoons of sugar, enjoying the sight.

"You can do it Amanda! I believe in you." I said, cheering. This sugar was great. I loved the flavour of it. A bit of tangy oldness, but when I was this hungry, it tasted as good as popcorn.

Daniel kneeled down by me.

"This is cruel."

I nodded. "You know why I'm doing it."

He shook his head. "She said it was a lie. She's not his apprentice." Oh, they'd been chatting.

I should make sure he didn't go over to the dark side"Regardless, after this is over- I saw you, you know cameras. Want a job?"

He looked surprised. "A job?" I nodded. "Yeah, we need a technical expert. You seem smart." I remember he'd known the camera model. Someone who knew little things like that would be great for break ins. That had probably been why he'd been bored with the camera. He knew all that.

"Oh I… yes. I'd like that. I hadn't expected that."

I saw Obi wandering around the pit. Gus was pacing back and forth near me, conflicted.

**Mental pressure on gamer's mind increasing. Mental collapse in two minutes. **

Laura laura. I could feel her mind seeking to come out. I didn't want her to snap my gamer's mind. I sighed, and let down my barriers.

Memories flashed by my mind. Laura had been a thief. She stole from pharmacies and hospitals, getting insulin for her sister. Kayla. Her sister.

Just go to Canada, I thought back at her. You can buy it cheap there.

Ignoring my dismissive comments, the flashes continued, anxiety trying to overwhelm my rock hard wisdom.

While here, she had read through medical books. Sometimes she'd needed extra cash, and had gotten greedy and had looked for things to sell. One of them was a medicine that could cure a local herb that would cause lung bleeding and dizziness.

Oh crap. That book I'd seen. On herbal medicines. And doggo had been injected with something, roughly. And if she could poison people once, she could poison people again. The nerve gas was a lie.

Oh shit. That had been what she had been planning to do with me. I looked at my legs, and quickly pulled them out. She couldn't get to me.

But she'd been talking to people. I looked at Daniel. Et tu, Brutus?

And Gus rammed a syringe into my shoulder.

**You have been poisoned by a massive dose of poison! Poison maniac perk broken. Every minute, you gain an additional +10% debuff to all stats.**

Oh yes reputation scores. I wasn't the only one who could turn people."Obi's a traitor, be ready-!" I shouted, as I saw Jonas falling to the ground and saw Obi rammed a syringe into Xavier.

**Serial killer speed perk activated!**

I lashed out at Gus, a bit unsteady, and missed as he kicked me into the pit. My stats were going down. I grabbed at the edge with one hand, stopping my fall.

I quickly willed myself up the gamer's body perk, and felt my muscles grow strong again.

**Killing instinct perk activated! Desire for life perk activated!**

Oh hey Amanda. I reached to pull myself up, as I heard the smack of a bat, as Xavier whacked Obi back.

**Drug fueled strength perk activated. **

Obi stepped back, arm scratched and bruised, the hit harder than he expected.

Gus went to stamp on my hand. I held on, even as I felt some of my hand bones crack. He went to kick again, and was slammed out of the way by Addison ramming my knife into his side. The two fell down to the ground.

Daniel held a hand out. "I'm with you." He said, a little uncertain. I took his hand, and pulled myself up.

I glanced at my leadership perk. It granted people a +3 stat now, along with 11 HP, and a 10% reduction in stamina loss and stat debuffs.

I turned it on. "Let's crush the traitors!" I called out.

As Amanda yanked herself out of the pit, cure in hand, she took a needle and charged at me.

She was stronger, faster, charged up on perks. She had some insane buffs, as a consequence of being Jigsaw's apprentice, and had beaten an experienced and dangerous dirty cop, Daniel's father, in canon. I was pretty strong, but had shit combat stats and wasn't really a threat to anyone. But I had one thing she didn't. A very good dog.

Doggo, buffed and augmented charged at her, and bit into her leg.

**Poison Maniac activated!**

She screeched with pain, and I took the earth in my hand, and tossed it at her face, willing it to fill her nostrils and force it's way into her.

**Earth control succeeded! Earth control levels up! Earth control levels up!**

And I kicked at her legs. She fell back into the needle pit, and screamed.

Gus had overpowered Addison. He was on top of her hitting her head into the ground.

"You fucking whore!" He said. I took the glass of sugar in my head, and slammed it into his head, knocking him away, shards of glass slicing into his face, even as his side leaked blood.

As Amanda came out of the pit, still covered in needles she kicked Doggo aside, and hit me with a punch that left my head wringing. She tossed the key to the dazed Gus. "Get your cure!" She ordered. He scrambled up, going to the steel door to unlock it, and she faced me.

"You remind me of someone. I hated that person." She pulled a needle out of her arm, and came at me.

I was mostly ignoring the stats for now because I wasn't doing that well. I'd taken a pretty hard hit, and was dazed, and was level 1, and she had taken 22 damage out of her 450 health. She was doing fine. But again, she was missing something key.

Cure bit into her wounded leg again, tenacious and angry. As she turned to handle doggo, I charged her. She resisted me, somehow, and pushed back till Jonas came to my aid, revived by my leadership power. We slammed her back into the pit, our mass and strength telling against her smaller form.

She, I saw, grabbed the edge, and would be back soon.

I looked over. Gus had got the cures! He was running to the door. Addison was getting up. Obi wasn't doing well against the club, and was backing away, every strike getting Xavier a chance to take him out, a fresh spring to Xavier's step. Daniel was standing, a bit shocked.

I picked up Megatron. "Time for one last mission." I aimed him, and tossed him at Obi.

**Computers levels up!** He smacked into Obi's head, shattering into pieces of glass and circuitboard and cheap plastic. Xavier used the distraction, and got a solid hit on Obi, taking him down to half health and knocking out several teeth.

Amanda got out, on the other side. "Come everyone, get out!" She shouted. "We can fight them later. Daniel, come on!" Daniel stood, reluctant. She sighed, and shook her head. "Fine." Obi darted at Xavier, dodged a swing, and faked his way past him and the three of them headed off.

"Stay away, you cowards!" Shouted Addison.

**You have defeated Amanda's war party! Level up!**

I looked over the group. Doggo was collapsed, wounded. Jonas was fine. Daniel was fine, but useless. Addison was dazed and unsteady. Xavier was doing pretty well, some scratches but being a druglord helped. He had a higher ranked poison resistance perk than me which had handled his poisons and presumably explained how he almost survived the first film.

It wasn't enough to stop Amanda.

Ooh, fifty perk points from Gus curing himself.

My wisdom came with some benefits. I could feel a bit extra about skills, descriptions, quests. The timed quest, with an hour's timing- it didn't stop ticking when I died. And there was the 50% death debuff, which I was pretty sure I'd earn if I died. That meant a maximum of 300 points from this place, if I managed to kill Amanda, which was far from certain. I hadn't intended to do this but Amanda knew this place. She had all the buffs she could. She probably had hidden hidey holes and knew secrets and tricks. And Kayla, Laura's sister. She was a diabetic. I didn't know if each universe reset after I left, or each timeline I left was dead but I didn't intend to lose this timeline.

I needed power. I didn't have enough. Every 2 minutes, now, I'd lose 10% physical stats.

"Everyone. Accept party invitations." I sent out an invitation to everyone.

Addison looked surprised as an invitation popped up in front of her. "What the fuck is this."

"I'm a planeswalker. I travel from world to world. This is my power. I grant it to you in this time of need."

Xavier spoke. "Like that children's cards game." I nodded.

"Yes, exactly like that children's card's game. Now accept, I'm gonna heal you all."  
"This is weird man..." Jonas said, but he accepted.

I tossed all of them, except Xavier who's stat block was monstrous, a desperate struggle. 208 perk points left. Xavier, who had 62 strength and 25 constitution but shitty dex of 6 and was level 5, no doubt due to steroids, got a super strength "Accept my strength. Obi is a dirty rogue, but strength is the true path to strength. You're our barbarian"

He held up his arms, which looked more muscular. "I like this."

Addison had 22 wisdom and a journeyman level observation skill called street eye. She got death's calling and outside the box, and power attack, and baseball expert. "You see all. Now, your sight is even stronger, and you have combat power. You're our ranger." "This feels… strange."

Jonas had generally shitty combat stats, but he also had a journeyman level first aid variant skill.

"Grab what you can- patch us up. You're our cleric." I hadn't really invested in the first aid skill, I had nothing there. Oh wait. I tossed him packrat. "You can carry everything."

And to Daniel. "You're our technical expert. Once trapped between two sides, now-" I looked at my level 10 unlocked computer perk list, and tossed him one. Technology enabled. It granted him a Palm TX. Wasn't that future tech? Oh well.

Doggo got… power strike as well. Oooh, he'd expended his poison on Amanda? That was nice. I added greasy skin as well, so he could gain a bit of extra weight. Zombie spit as well, and hungry for flesh and stealthy predator, so he could get a surprise attack.

"What the hell? Where did this come from? Magic?" Asked Daniel.

Xavier and Addison seemed more accepting, trying out their new powers.

Would this work? No clue.

I winced, and coughed blood. The timer. It hit two minutes. My blood coursed with a massive dose of the poison, far above what a normal human could survive. I wiped the blood from my mouth.

Time to show Amanda not to mess with Macgyver, or his friends.

* * *

Just as he is paranoid about those around him, so am I. Corona virus stalks the land, ravaging all it touches. I have been (and will be) a bit busy in the next few days as I finish prepping for self isolation.

Now the groups tear apart, and the fate of the future and his sweet sweet perk points rests on how well each team coordinates. Can Amanda motivate people and solve problems? Can she Macgyver her way out of new traps? Find out next time.

Dragonbornthesam. Giving him a free intragalatic spaceship would be a bit powerful for a horror story.

JakeWJElliot2. Haha, I liked it too. She deserves to be tossed in the pit.

Arkyong. Yep, don't mess with the pet.

Sylphi. Amanda is the one watching this one, so it's her responsibility.

IncognitoMinerals. Yeah Amanda is really unhappy right now. Hence why she's taking a more active role. I mean, as the person who knows the house, surely she is safe.

Sanas22. You don't. And fucking with the dog came back to bite her in the ankle.

Zackman2k12. I'll pick the dog name from the votes next time.

Toobad69. Should be back on schedule in a day or so. Just need to stock up before zombie plagues sweep the land.

Deus. Bye bye then.

Thorison1080. Companions are allowed in every world. You just need inventory access, and his inventory is locked because he got captured by Obi.

Frescko. A late addition, but I'll add it to the poll.

Final day or two of voting on doggo name. See Team Amanda vs Team Macgyver next time.


	20. Kool aid life

We didn't have long. All those upgrades, and you might think we had a chance to defeat them. No.

We were Team Macgyver, not Team Rambo. They had two competent killers on their side, and we had one, plus a sex worker who had some history hitting people, and me, and a vet, and a techie kid, and a very good dod. More than that, Amanda was smart and unfair. She'd turned up with a shotgun when she thought I was threatening Jigsaw. I bet she'd have some surprises for an emergency. It's what I'd do. Why have a fair fight when you can have an unfair fight?

We needed time, which meant I needed a second dose of the cure. My poison resistance exp was ticking up only 30 a minute, which wouldn't be enough for a save.

I scanned our new resources. It was a child's storage room. There was a pram with a doll in it, a chair, a doll and a doll head, a box of toys, a radiator, a rolling toy, a light, a stool, a rocking horse, some metal wire used to trap us, the bed that had covered the needle pit, and a lot of needles. We had our stocks from the basement and downstairs. I was pretty sure Amanda was still upstairs- I could hear her a little way away. Maybe a bit beyond the stairs. The door was in the opposite direction. There was the steel safe room that held the antidotes. Maybe super strength could shove that, but I wasn't hopeful it could do it quickly based on my time in Resident Evil.

I had a plan. Ambush them at the door, deplete some resources, and smash through the wall next to the safe. Upstairs, there were two n shapes sets of rooms. There was the right n, with the stairs in the top left corner, the hand trap next to the stairs, and three locked rooms on the right and in the middle of the n, the needle room, with the needle room door facing to the right and the safe to the left. There was a similar set up on the left side of upstairs. The antidote was on the left, in the middle of the n.

"Daniel, Jonas- smash those dolls, put them at the entrance. Smash that light as well, we can hold the torch. Grab some of the toys, lego if you can find it, cover the entrance."

"This is impossible..." Said Daniel, staring at the tablet he had found on himself.

"Leave it kid. Think later, guard the door now." Said Jonas. Daniel looked at me despairingly, like I had broken him, and slowly went to start booby trapping the door.

"Addison, stay by the safe, listen for them. If you hear them, message us."

"I'll do it. But I want to hurt them as well." I took a pipe from the supply cache, and tossed it to her. She took it. "New weapon for you." She caught it easily, twisting the steel pipe in her hand, and went to listening.

"Xav, take the bed. Be by the door, use it or your club to block the door or hit people as needed."

"You got a plan to get us out of this? Not just orders?"

"Yes. We hit them hard when they come in, and then you smash through that wall if it goes bad. Use the party chat for privacy. Think something, and you can send it"

**First! **From Xavier

**Hello world ahh this is happening!** From Daniel.

**Boys.** Sent Addison.

I gestured at the wall near the safe. "We rush the antidote, through the wall.

Xavier grinned. "It's just drywall. I can rip through it."

He could. Even before this, he was a jacked up steroid user. As most people with anger issues knew, it was easy to stick your fist through a wall. These walls were too thin to be reinforced like the outside ones, we could have just smashed our way through. If he pushed himself, he could probably smash through a wall before he got buffed. Now, the walls were fucked.

Cure, my new name for our doggy friend, got his stealthy orders.

Everyone got to prepping. I ripped out the seat of the baby walker. The door was mined, the lights cut, and Xavier waited to smash.

Then we heard noise.

"**Gun, flash grenade, get down"** Sent Addison

Everyone went down to the ground. Even Daniel did it, if slower.

A ripple of gunfire smashed through the walls, at head height. The walls did nothing to protect us, the bullets smashing through above us. Wasn't she trying to save Daniel?

**Rush the corner!** I ordered. We got up, and rushed the corner next to the door, at the bottom of the n curve.

**Wisdom check failed. 20/25**

That wasn't good.

"Move!" Came Amanda's voice from down the corridor, at the top of the n. At the corner, around the junction. She could quickly move to shoot us, whichever side we came out. And where was Obi?

Gus burst in, holding a flash grenade. He stepped on a fragment of baby doll which sliced into his shoe, screamed, and then stepped on a baby trolly and slid into the needle pit, flash bang and all.

We had all gone to the corner next to the door. We needed an escape.

"Smash" I gestured to Xavier.

He rammed into the wall, smashing through kool aid man style. The wall, poorly used to someone of his size, ripped apart, dust flying everywhere, beams deflecting, and his perk letting him survive it all. Behind us, the flashbang went off.

Amanda raised her rifle at me, with a grin. She was burnt, her red hair ripped off, bleeding from several puncture wounds, and now wearing stab proof armor, night vision goggles, and carrying a rifle and several guns.

"End of the line, Macgyver."

Cure spat caustic acid at her gun. It started to melt in her hands, and she quickly tossed it. We ran on, past the bottom of the right side of the room.

Out of sight of Amanda, I gestured at the wall, leading into one of the locked rooms.

Xavier smashed through, and we all stepped after him. This was just a toilet room. We smashed through into the next room, and I quickly applied to myself the deathly calling perk.

I saw Addison being pierced by a bullet, as soon as I did it. I grabbed her and moved her aside, as bullets flew past us. I quickly gave Xavier the perk.

It was a storage room. There were several chunks of glass, steel beams, steel sheets, razor blades, bits of wood. This was a storage room Jigsaw had used to help build the place!

"Grab a steel sheet!" I ordered Xavier. He picked up one of the sheets and we five huddled behind it, as bullets smashed into it.

"Quick, into the next room!" We smashed around the corner, heading left now, into the next room. It was a small room, used for storing cleaning supplies. I grabbed some window cleaner and some toilet cleaner.

We could go into the hand razor room, that Addison had died in in the movie. But that room had a camera, and was easy access. If we came out and the steel barrier didn't cover us perfectly Amanda could just mow us down with her guns, or shoot through them if she had something higher bigger.

**Addison, knife, and did you hear where Amanda went?**

**She ran past us, to the left.**

She gestured, and tossed me the knife.

I made my choice.

**Smash into the next room. Ignore my verbal command. **

"Smash left" I fake ordered. I stabbed the bottom of the ammonia and bleach chemicals I'd taken, ripped the tops off, as we smashed through the thin drywall into the hand razor room. I could see Amanda aiming at the wrong spot and oh crap Obi was here.

Xavier reacted, grabbing Obi as he emerged, machete in hand, the death perk no doubt having warned him, and tossed him at Amanda. She dodged away, and raised a big looking pistol at us. Desert Eagle? I didn't know guns. The steel clattered down, and I tossed the baby chemical bomb at Amanda, caustic yellow fumes emerging from the deadly mix. Xavier picked up the steel wall.

"Through the wall again!" I said, as we five rushed forward, smashing into the stair way, behind the heavily abused steel wall section again. I heard a shot ring out behind me, and Amanda coming at the hand razor room behind us. "Once more into the breach!" I said, and we smashed through into the next room.

Xavier had to shove aside server equipment. We were in some sort of closet and-

Oh, this locked room was the the server room. I could see a bunch of screens on a laptop. I ripped the laptop away from the cables.

"Make a barricade here. Bar the closet off. I doubt they're gonna want to come through chlorine gas fumes."

We all shoved as many server racks and chairs and desks as we could into the way, and Xavier dug his steel barrier into the wall, making a hopefully solid barrier to opening the door.

**Level up! You have defeated a group of killers again. 10 perk points and 1 stat point.**

"Smash the door open." I gestured.

With a solid shoulder shove, he smacked his shoulder into it. The wood cracked, his arm went through, and the door did not open. "My arm. Shit that hurts." He said.

I shook my head."You kick it- look." Super strength was no substitute for knowledge. I yanked him out, his arm scratched and cut, and then kicked the door near the lock (but not on it) several times. The wood cracked under my kicks, the lock fracturing out. Doors were generally made out of fairly soft wood and were hollow. This door was no different.

I heard someone coming from inside the server room. They were here. Shit.

"Let's go!" I said. We all ran out- ugh. That was toxic. Chlorine smell was in here. We ran around the corner. Two corner doors were now unlocked. There had been a weapons rack- now empty, except for a taser. And a few suits of body armor, now on our evil friends, and empty. There was a helmet. I darted in, grabbed the helmet and the taser, and we went back into my challenge room.

We wedged the door shut, and checked out the trap room again. A t shape, which you crawled through, with trap barriers that you had to solve puzzles on inside and out, with rotating steel letters. A second glass ring above it filled with marbles. Pistons above and to the side, to crush and make it awkward. We needed to get this fast. The cure syringe was in a glass and steel box. Time to solve it.

53 seconds in. 67 till my next poison hit. Gamer's mind was still keeping me from being dumb, but it wouldn't last forever. I could feel the poison eating away at my mind.

I was pretty sure we had at least a few minutes. Our barrier was solid, and the chlorine was toxic as hell. There'd been a lot of liquid there. If Amanda did come through it, she'd be fucked up.

She could get through the other way from the lower floor near the kitchen if she had a key (which she probably did) but that would take a minute or two. I could do this.

I crawled into the glass pipe. First divider. I think this trap was meant to be done on a paranoid group who wasn't unified. Like, in the film, 50 50 they just let Amanda die.

I tossed Jonas the death perk, so he could warn me if things were gonna get fucked up, and started.

You had so much potential. You wasted it on petty theft. You are **trash.**

Said the message. Mean Jigsaw.

**Trash symbol. **I sent.

They rotated the symbols outside, I lifted up the barrier when they got the right one, and I crawled another meter to the next barrier.

You deprived others of essential medicines. You are **devilish.**

**Devilish symbol**, I sent, they did their stuff, and crawled through.

And I was under the cure, no smashing pistons coming down to crush me. Well done me. One more barrier. I read the message. There was another barrier, with a lock next to it.

Who makes it, has no need of it.  
Who buys it, has no use for it.  
Who uses it can neither see nor feel it.  
What is it? It is what **you are in**, unless you are patient.

Riddle me this, riddle me that. Who can't see and feel. Inanimate objects. Who doesn't need it? Something bad. Who buys it? Something you use for others. Something bad, for others, which is inanimate. Oh. A corpse? Oh yeah, a coffin.

**Coffin symbol. **I sent.

Addison was about to press it, when Jonas grabbed her hand.

"Wait!" I heard his muffled voice. "He gets crushed if you press that. I saw a vision.

Oooh. Yeah. I guess this was like the safe room? You had to wait for ages.

I summoned up my shade of Laura, the thief, and asked her if she could crack the lock, since Amanda was coming to kill me.

Yes- the trap on the keyhole looked to be electronic. I could fry it with the taser, so long as I didn't touch any steel connected to it. And this thing was ringed with steel.

I did an awkward Yoga pose that kept me just away from any steel, warned everyone to step back, took out the taser, and stunned the lock.

I didn't get crushed!

I took out the lock pick, and started fiddling with the lock.

And then the end of the pipe, my escape route, collapsed, as the pistons slammed down, crushing it. Another set of pistons, horizontal ones, pushed glass marbles to crush over my head, making the route to my syringe be filled with shards of glass. I could go to the end of the Ts, but that would mean I couldn't get the syringe.

Laura, I urged as I tried to pick the lock. Get it done quickly. For your sister.

I got the lock. I moved as some glass shards dropped down, and tugged my shirt off. I wrapped my hand in my shirt, so I could grab the antidote, and I heard an unwelcome voice.

"You're cheating, Macgyver. Just like you cheated before. I know what you are. I have control of this. I'm going to crush you." Said Amanda's voice, from a hidden intercom.

Ah. Her. The second set of pistons slammed down. I felt very claustrophobic right now. I did not like this. I felt trapped, like I had before. I'd let down the gamer's mind a bit, so I could get Laura's skill, and my head was going a bit fuzzy.

I reached up, and grabbed the antidote, yanking it out as my shirt was shredded.

**Xavier, rip the top off. **He did so, triggering a bunch of things that would have no doubt been bad, like a tag dropping the syringe, if I hadn't already got it.

The third piston came down. It was going to crush me! No. Xavier was holding it, with brutal, inhuman strength. I felt the one from below knock the pipe up, not going far enough to crush me. Cracking my bones and twisting my limbs, with the inhuman dexterity granted to me by my foot cutting off perk, I pulled myself out of the very small hole, taking a few scratches to my chest

10 seconds till my next hit of poison debuffs. I rammed the syringe into my shoulder, and injected it.

**You have partially cured a serious disease! Poison resistance levels up! Poison resistance levels up! Poison resistance levels up! Timer reset to every eight minutes. Poison maniac reconstituting in five minutes. 1 dex gained for cunning use of your hands (suspended).**

That would do well. I might even survive it, with gamer's body and poison maniac giving me time to flush it.

I heard the sound of a lock opening. They were coming up from the kitchen!

Xavier was rubbing his sore arm muscles, but I had one more task. I knew how to escape this place.

I took our supply cache, and tossed him back his spiked club.

"Smash through the floor."

* * *

Xavier said the walls were drywall. They never really tried just smashing the walls. They really should. I mean, it's not that hard. If you've ever done demolition on a house, you can test it and see it's pretty easy. The super strength helps him not need a sledge hammer, and is a very very expensive replacement for a bit of time and effort, but really, they totally should have smashed more of the walls.

Unlike them, I am bound by more than simply thin walls. I am bound by the plague that spreads through the land, corona chan spreading her influence and infecting all she touches, so, I should be back to my regular daily update schedule.

It's definitely something worth thinking about if you have a house- how easily could someone just smash their way past your barriers? Windows can be popped off, doors broken down, and open windows climbed into. Just because you can't see through it, doesn't mean a strong dude can't just kick his way past in five seconds.

Dragonbornthesam

Omake.

He was Joker. He was locked in the body of a disabled man, flying a star ship to ancient ships of terror and death that sought to destroy the galaxy. His fate was in the hand of an angry soldier and a bunch of strays he had found along the way.

He rubbed his hands. He was going to enjoy this.

*several months later*

Jigsaw was ready for a lot of things. He had prepared for this strange new man, with technical skills. He was prepared for the police coming after him. So long as you could read people well, you could escape anything.

As a stream of molten metal flung it's way through the sky at him from the Normandy's Thanix cannon, crushing and melting him along with a large part of the surrounding area, he was not ready.

Giving him a planet wrecking weapon for free is a bit against the hopelessness and survival with scarce resources theme of this story.

Arkyong. It does. Team Amanda vs Team Macgyver. This story was always about that. Saw 2 was about a group fracturing under pressure and slowly dying off. His way is to keep it together.

Thorison1080. He could get perks to spawn more people in, but he would need to advance leadership a lot. As is, there is a plan for spawning Cure in every time. If a party member dies as is, they die forever, although perks could change that. He does plan to build more transformers, once he has more computer skill and resources. Megatron may have died, but he will be rebuilt, better strong faster!

DG2. His gamer abilities have been around for a while, he used the party system in RE7 as well, and gave Cure a perk. Plus, Saw 2 is all about parties, so. And he didn't figure everything out. He missed several key things, or he could have got the drop on them anyway.

Guest. That will definitely be the plan. Better robots needed!

Dikkr1229. Mia got the party system unlocked forcibly by Ev before. Ev hacked her brain with spores and turned it on early. She could have given her perks then, but she didn't really want to. Been unlocked since chapter 9. And I am glad you are enjoying the ride.

Zackman2k12. Edgelord mckilldog is a great name regardless. But the votes are in.

Gatling2745. Things are heating up. Next chapter will see how and if he survives the gun wielding but poisoned and chlorine gased and burnt and stabbed and bit Amanda and her trusty side kick Obi.

Nickarn22. Bye bye.

Watermelonninja. I haven't played that. Is Alien Isolation fun? Would it be a good place for him to go?

Soda-fiedPsycho. Yay for makeshit guns, or in this case, makeshift grenades. Combining household chemicals is so much fun! I love trying out new mixes. And so many are toxic and deadly, or explode.

Tune in next time to see which team will win.


	21. Salt and pepper

The floor smashed, the cracked and damaged pipe across the room ripping downstairs into the kitchen below. The air was filled with cracked wood, and already dusty grey kitchen paneling was covered.

The group went down. I went first, trusting in my powerful stats, Xavier swung down easily, and we helped Jonas and Daniel hop down, then Addison.

We didn't have long. Whenever you enter a house, you should analyse it. Where are the windows, doors? Note where they are, and work out your lines of retreat and advancement, work out what cover you have, work out what weapons you have. In a dangerous situation you don't have time to think, which is why I had done my thinking back at the computer and on our route.

This wasn't a defensible position. There were three routes to us- from the side stairs, up from above, and from the main stair route. That meant three routes for them to blast us from, leaving us a bit insecure. We needed more time here.

I looked up. My survivor sense gave me some degree of insight into the building. We had smashed a lot of shit, including cracking some load bearing pillars. This place wasn't doing well. And in particular, the floor above was doing terribly. The big t trap had been bolted into the ceilings and walls, and it was really bad for the structural stability of the place to suddenly rip through the floor out of it's bolts downwards.

But, it was just bolted into cheap wood.

**Laura's trap room. The place intended to kill you and make you confront your greed and hunger for money. 38/100 durability. **

"Wiggle it! Grab the pipe and shake it. Carefully." I ordered Xavier.

I gestured at the others. "Grab the washing machine. Grab anything sharp. Put it in the corridor. Make a makeshift barrier, facing the left. The room next to us- it's an office room, it has some file cabinets. Use those." I gestured, and they went off to do it. I tossed Addison and Daniel the packrat perks, so they could better lug the thing.

Xavier started moving and shaking the pipe, the t shaped plastic and cracked steel pistons not enjoying their treatment, and more cracks appeared above us as more of the trap ripped out. He seemed to enjoy his new strength a lot. He was grinning, glowing with glee at his supernatural might. That's what you get Jigsaw. A real trap master uses a house they made built with steel or bricks or concrete, not some cheap old wooden house. Or an abandoned factory.

I glanced at the helmet.

**Radio capable helmet. Allows you to communicate with others on the same frequency.**

Inside was a bit scratched up. I pressed play.

I started to fiddle with the fridge, ripping out plastic panels, and getting into the guts. At the back there was a very useful piece of equipment.

"What the fuck is that shaking!" Came Amanda's voice.

"It's them. Flush them out." Said Obi.

"I'm moving into the upstairs. Damn what are they doing?!" She said, frustrated, as the house shook and rippled with the massive sound of being torn apart.

Have you ever wondered why we don't fix global warming by putting fridges all around and opening them up?

It's because they have pumps in them. These pumps make some air hotter, and your fridge cooler. This pump was part one in my plan, to escape.

Daniel came up to me. "Why aren't you barricading things?" I asked, my hand deep inside the fridge's guts. This thing was delicate, couldn't just rip it out. "They're using radio! I managed to get it on my pad." I patted the helmet. "Already got it kid."

"There's a backup channel!" He said. He played.

Gus's voice spoke. "They'll want to trap you in that room. Don't go. Go to the bottom. Flush them out towards Tate."

"Shit. Doing it." Said Amanda.

That was contradictory. What was going on.

Xavier reached 8 durability on the first floor. **Stop** I sent.

I had been blind sighted a lot of times by this place. Maybe with insane wisdom I could figure out all the context clues and work out the best option, but I was suffering because I didn't have enough good options. If wisdom was knowing what was best, and intelligence was knowing new ways to be the best, I needed intelligence.I needed to remember more about this film.

I ripped out the fridge pump, leaned on the fridge, and put both points in int.

It was intense. Two points was a major upgrade to my fleshy brain. I could feel my brain pulsating, new connections forming, new knowledge rushing in. And, most importantly, old poorly remembered knowledge becoming clearer. I almost collapsed, but my preparation and upgraded gamer's minds held me strong.

Gus was a scam artist. He was a master social manipulator. I remembered clearly the tape and I remembered… that mother fucker. He had seen me about to blow Amanda's cover. He knew people, he had scammed enough. He knew that it was about to blow up. Gus had stabbed me with the poison needle because he was a good planner. I wasn't just facing a crazy apprentice and a crazy killer. I was facing a social wizard who had predicted my plan several times. I had been leaning to rushing the stairs, but with Obi waiting…

We'd be dead. And back towards the barricade lurked Amanda. We went that way, she'd blast us. She was probably waiting for us to be flushed back by Obi. Wounded, scared, right into her firing range.

I grabbed salt and pepper shakers and spoke, as Addison came back. "We need to go back up the pipe."

Addison looked skeptical. "That place is about to collapse." The floor above did look dire. Much of the floor had fallen out, a massive steel t pipe had smashed to the kitchen floor, and the ceiling was cracked and flayed.

"It's the only way. Amanda to the left, Obi on the stairs. The door frame is still ok. Xavier, go up, and pull us all up."

"You better have a good plan" He said, as he used his super strength to reach the first floor again. He glanced around, looking for Amanda, and then lay flat and dropped his arms down. "Come." He said. All five of us grabbed him- and as easily as if we were a sack of potatoes, he pulled us up.

My superior int pointed out something else to me. The cameras! I bet they were tracking us through them. The camera here was wrecked, ripped out, but there was one in the hallway outside. My fuzzy computer knowledge gave me a plan.

I knelt down. **Cure. It's time for you to cure the house of it's infection. **I wrapped insulating tape around each of their feet. They looked at me, suspicious, but trusting me for now. **Go sneakily to the room right right and rip out the thick black cable. **Cure was a small stealthy master.

I looked out, just out of reach of the camera. A few seconds later, I got a message. **Delicious black cable. Feed me more! **Dogs.

I spoke quietly. "Follow me. I'm pretty sure Gus wouldn't have left the safety of the top right corner." I set off at a sprint- only Xavier kept up. He ripped aside the steel barrier in the computer room, and we set off towards the razor trap room, through the helpful holes.

And there, looking a little shocked, not well suited to combat, was Gus. He had a pistol in his hand. He pointed it at me.

"Don't-" I tossed the salt shaker at his eyes. It smashed, filling his face with sharp glass and stinging salt. I lunged forward as he pointed the gun and squeezed- and nothing happened. I rammed my fist right into his kidney, and he collapsed to the floor and vomited. "That was for poisoning me." Xavier kicked his leg. It cracked. Xavier looked a little surprised, but happy.

"Yeah motherfucker! Don't mess with team Macgyver!" I grabbed Gus, ripped his helmet off, took the gun, and carried him into the razor trap room. He screamed about his eyes hurting, and the pain, as I shoved him wrists first up into the razor trap.

"Socially manipulate your way out of this." I said, as he screamed, moving his wrists back and forth, ripping his way into them.

**6 perk points awarded for an ironic non fatal trap!**

I smelt something- chlorine. It was all around, but it was getting stronger.

Jonas walked in, looking smug, followed by Addison and Daniel. "Obi won't be getting to us from the stairs.

I grinned. "Well, that's a nice surprise." I liked having competent minions. I did some quick mental maths. This could work. We were above the safe room, I think. There would be no easy access from the stairs or the side-

"Xavier, secure the passage again with the steel barrier please." He grinned.

"Being super strong is great." He said, as he twisted steel into place again, blocking the stairway path.

They could only come at us one way. Up the stairs. We needed to get to the basement, ideally without them realizing we did it.

I sent several orders to Xavier, privately, and checked out the gun. I flicked out the circular ammo chamber thing. Guns. They were magic. But this one had no bullets in it. I glanced back at the screaming Gus.

"We need them distracted. If they come to get their team mate, that gives us time to flee." I said. Daniel didn't care much- like father like son. Jonas didn't care much. Addison didn't care much. Xavier looked happy.

"I thought- mercy. Goodness."

Jonas shook his head. "He sided with Jigsaw. No mercy."

Addison looked at him. "You got any more salt?" Gus let out a pained cry at this, his salted eyes burning.

Yay for merciless minions! Addison kicked his cracked leg. He fell, slicing himself more, and awkwardly pulled himself up.

He was doing surprisingly- oh yeah. He seemed to have some stab proof armour under his top. It mostly blocked the blades. Cheater.

I put the helmet on, and spoke into the radio channel. We needed time.

"Hello Amanda. I've missed you."

"You killed Gus? Good. He was just slowing us down." He was smarter than you idiots.

"I left him trapped. Just like I'm going to do to you. I'm going to shove Obi's hand so far up your rear, the other end will see daylight."

"I knew it was you! You did that to me! You forced me to..." I heard an angry gasp. "To hurt him. For nothing. Why?"

I did a slow, creepy laugh. "Because you're nothing. You don't deserve freedom. You deserved to die to drugs, and I have so many traps placed. I'm gonna get you, little failure."

Why wasn't Obi helping- oh.

**Addison, watch the hole in the razor hand trap room. **I sent, as the house rocked and shook again.

"I'll not fail Jigsaw. I'm coming for you. I'm his apprentice. I'm better than you. No matter what blessings you got from Summer." That name again- my mind slipped away from it. I heard a bang. I looked back. Some blood. "Obi tried to sneak up. His fat fingers didn't" I grabbed her, ramming her across the room. Several bullets thudded up through the floor, one ripping through Gus's side and his armor. He screamed.

**Floors are thin.** I sent. I pulled her away, to the needle trap room, to the sound of repetitive smashing. I tossed the pepper down the hole, hard and heard coughing as Obi took pepper to the nose.

"Didn't like that surprise, did you, Macgyver." Said Amanda's voice, through the radio. "We're coming to get you."

The needle trap was pretty deep. It had to dig into the room below, whatever it was. It was heavy. That was probably why that room was locked off- it was pretty messed up. The room in front of the safe room.

I intended to penetrate it. Then Amanda and Obi would have to worry about us escaping through the safe room, the ground floor needle room, or the basement. We'd have a bit of time to worry.

Xavier finished smashing the steel bar through the floor, and the needle pit dropped through.

It was solid steel. It smashed through two floors. With a massive crack, a hole through to the basement opened. I looked down. Looked like that had been a dining area before. Cabinets to the side, filled with plates. Now, it had a mess of broken pipes which had been used to hold up the needle trap.

We had supplies from Jigsaw's cache. That included a rope. We tied it to the steel door, and let ourselves down, Daniel and Addison holding onto me and Xavier thanks to our superior strength, Jonas climbing down himself. We tugged down the rope after, so it would be hard to follow us.

I walked to a pipe, and stroked it.

"What are we here for?" Asked Daniel.

"Yeah. Why have we been bouncing around the house back and forth?" Lets just go kill them, said Xavier, hefting his spiked club.

Addison sighed. "You know he always has a trap. He has a trap here. Stop being such a man."

I smiled at Addison. She knew me. I did like traps. "Plan a is an explosion. Plan B is a bigger explosion. I am going to rebuild this pressure pump, fill up some gas cylinders, and blow up our way out."

* * *

Time for the finale of Team Macgyer vs Team Amanda. The secret powers have been revealed, all secrets are out in the open. What will prevail, heavy firepower or raw ingenuity?

Also, you have now seen every room in the nerve gas house party, and the heroes have been inside every single one. 100% exploration. Except the sewer tunnels.

In roleplay games, my first impulse is also "Can I build a really big bomb." They solve so many problems. Pressurized gas, gas cylinders, all was visible on screen. How could you not want to build a bomb?

Frescko. Yep, they know a bit more about what's going on. They didn't know it was repeating till now, but now they can prep. If Amanda survives.

Arkyong. Thanks. The fast paced finale.

Watermelonninja. I'll look it up then. With coronavirus, I have much spare time to fill. And what better than horror games?

Toobad69. Doom would be fun, he would die many times. I have a leveling system for real life, where the max is like 1000 HP, enough to survive a few shots. Doom guy and demons would break that open and be absurdly tough.

Thorison1080. He can summon as many party members as he has space for, and you'll see soon what they're up to. They don't innately spawn into people- that's a protagonist power. Otherwise he could just mass spawn everyone and Saw 2 would be a lot easier as literally everyone was his bud. Which would be funny. Plus I am trying to keep as much of the flavour and characters of the original movie, generally, so force spawning into people is gonna be uncommon.

Soda-fiedpsycho. Sadly, Amanda is too scary in combat right now, since she could easily kill all of them. So for now, he's avoiding her. Next chapter, he can't any more. And yeah, her armour has flaws.

Mortal combat can be the next one. I'll get a poll up soon.

Tune in next time to see the final fight of Saw 2.


	22. Everything goes boom

I had Xavier smash up the stairways. I really think Amanda and Obi were pretty confused about what to do about this. Like, if it was me, I'd have made some sort of gas explosive and tossed it down, but they just had guns and some grenades, and we could hide away in shadows away from them. We heard them arguing and shouting upstairs. They weren't really sure what to do. There was no other way down here, and they weren't good at mechanics. They could jump, but it was a decent way and when they poked their head down we tossed glass at them.

Meanwhile, we made bombs. There were quite a few gas containers, and a pump, but they were old and damaged. We yanked some wires out from the nearby lights and got a power supply going, and I swapped out old parts and put in new parts, and we began to pump gas from the incinerator into the gas cylinder.

I keyed on the helmet. "Hey Amanda, how you doing?"

"I will get you. You can't hide in there forever."

"I don't intend to. I'm coming for you. You can't hide up Jigsaw's ass forever." I clicked off.

"If she fucks you up for that, I am gonna laugh. I'll kill her after, but you had it coming." Said Xavier.

I turned to him.

"I need to keep her off balance. I'm not just taunting her for lols."

He shook his head. "I know you. You're having fun." I smiled.

"Mayyyybe."

"Don't let it overtake you. I've seen a lot of promising dudes get too caught up in showing they have a bigger dick."

I frowned.

"But mine is bigger than hers. Much, much bigger."

He punched my arm. "That's the spirit."

"Ow." I said. I guess- we had won almost every encounter here. They didn't really have as much reason to be scared. Or was it something else? I guess I had been pushing my pretty casual attitude on them. Since I was immortal, I made everything seem ok.

"So, you were offering lots of cash for people. Addison told me." He jerked a thumb out. She was helping make another gas bomb. "Where's the cash coming from? Your magic?"

I shook my head. "No… well yes. Have you heard of P=NP?

He laughed. "You know I have not heard of that."

I waved my hand. "Fancy computer stuff. I got a solution." I tapped my noggin. "You got anyone you wanna fuck over? This will do that." Resident Evil land came with some hefty perks.

He gave me a knowing look. "I'll think on that. Buying me by offering to kill my enemies."

My poison meter was pretty close. I had gotten an extra minute when poison maniac turned on again, but we were now 6 minutes in. Soon level 2 would hit, and I would lose some physical abilities. I could feel it burning through my veins, resisted by my body, my power, but still slowly scarring me.

We had four gas cylinders.

**Old gas cylinder. Used to store gas, and now packed full of gas. 500 explosive damage on a hit. 5/5 durability. **

I hoped it would be enough. I needed Addison for the next part of my plan though. I went to check on her.

"I heard you and Xavier are getting engaged."

I blinked. "What?"

"Comparing dick sizes and all." She said, as she filled the fourth cylinder.

"That was about Amanda's size, not his."

"Do you think she's trans?"

I shook my head. "No, she's not." Distracting humour for the damned.

"ANYWAYS" I said loudly. "You good for your part? Stopping Obi and Amanda?"

"I trust in you. I can't do it for long but you're gonna explode them."

"Their armor is built from some tough material like kevlar which resists slashes. It isn't made to stand up to bombs."

"You gonna sneak up through the hole? I've seen you looking at it a lot."

"Yeah. I am just thinking through the mechanics of it. I'm not sure if our bombs are enough to take out Amanda or Obi. There's a reason grenades and guns exists- our weapons are makeshift, and theirs are better."

"I think they're pretty good. Can't dodge a bomb."

I shook my head. "No you can't. I was thinking based off that. We are in theory trapped down here. If I went out the front entrance, they'd hit us, and I wouldn't be surprised if they booby trapped the way upstairs- easy to rig up a grenade, or a motion sensor."

"So what's the cunning twist. You always have one. A way out." She said, hopefully.

"I have… yeah. Had a lot of cunning twists. I hope this one works. We're stuck in a box. We come out run, they'll just gun us down.

She smacked me. Ow. Why? "No more losing talk. Your plan will work, and you'll beat them, right?"

"Erm, yes. Ok." I wasn't really sure how to handle this. "I shall beat them."

I had the gas cylinders- 500 damage each, and shit durability cause they were old. I had the people. I had the rope. I had my secret special surprise. It was time to do it.

Xavier tossed 3 of the gas cylinders up, into the stairs, one unscrewed enough to release gas. It was loud, flashy, and likely to draw attention from anyone watching. Addison, using her baseball skills, then hit a flaming ball of rags up at the gas cylinders. We all then went back around the corner and waited.

The boom knocked me and everyone else in the group to their feet. The house shook with the force, as three cylinders of explosive smashed their way through the stairway. I shook my head, dazed, as I got a notification.

**You have slain Obi Tate! Level up! 10 perk points and 1 stat point. **

Always fated to die in fire. We all picked ourselves up, and headed up onto the incinerator, and into the damaged room above. The walls next to us were cracked and shaking. We didn't have long.

Xavier smashed through the wall opposite them, and we barely got out before a secondary explosion smashed through the house, breaking the walls of the room behind us.

Try finding us in that, Mandy.

We rushed passed the open corridor, between the broken room, the stairway, and our wake up room. There was a wave of heat hot enough to raise blisters, and my lungs burnt from the toxic gas and smoke rolling off the stairway, but it wasn't enough to stop us. We went back into the starting room.

**You have found a secret entrance by enduring extreme explosive force! +1 constitution (suspended until you get a good rest and food)**

The explosions had damaged the walls, the floor, the ceiling. The house looked hella unstudy. The safe had tipped on it's side. And, the floor had been knocked open by the force.

I gestured. "I knew it! A way out." We worked together, lifting up the trap door as the house collapsed around us. Steel reinforcements not made to hold up a house were all that was left holding it up. Behind me, I set up the fourth and final gas cylinder up. I had gotten lucky on this one, and got an uncommon property on this one.

**Improvised proximity mine. A camera wired into the gas cylinder, operated off a battery found inside, allows this gas cylinder to explode on sight. 500 damage, 5/5 durability.**

We ran into the Sewers. Dark, dank, lit by old electrical lights.

"Hold it!" Said an unwanted voice behind us. Amanda stood there, a rifle in her hands, pointed right at us.

"Fuck." Xavier started to go at her, but I put my hand on his arm. "She'd mow us right down. Amanda. How did you find us?"

Above us, the sound of the house cracking and breaking continued. It was muffled down here, but still loud enough to mean we had to shout.

"Gus lived! He used one of his hands- mangled it- and managed to pull himself out. He told me you would try to escape out of the secret exit. Now move it!" She said, moving her rifle.

I should have killed Gus. Curse my merciful nature.

I could sense the group's reluctance, but I motioned them on-

Cure had skulked off. We still had a chance.

She walked us through the corridors. Mindful of the fact that she had a gun on me, and I was probably losing this loop, I decided to try and get information.

"You said Summer- what is that?"

"Talky for someone who tortured me here."

"If I'm gonna die, I want to know why."

She grinned. "That's up to you. I'm not gonna kill you. Now move it!" She ordered. She fired a round over my head. The sound of the gunshot was deafening.

Ooh. I felt the tick. My physical stats had just degraded a level. Not good. I coughed up blood over my top, and felt my muscles and body weaken. The poison was eating away at me.

**I'm gonna attack. Can you distract her for a second?** Sent Xavier

**I'll do it.** I sent back. I sent a command to Cure to launch his attack. Amanda's leg was pretty mangled- she had to limp to walk on it.

She led us right back to the room we had been in during Saw. Just as we entered, Xavier made his move. He twisted, and with inhuman strength, started to toss his club. In the meantime, Cure came out of stealth and went to bite her- when bullets ripped through Xavier, disabling his arm and ripping through his body. The club thudded into the wall, and he swayed, bleeding, and dropped.

Amanda expertly moved her unbitten leg, and kicked Cure, knocking him to the wall. With a fluid movement, she pumped a pair of bullets into Cure's side. He whelped, and fell down, bleeding out.

**Desperate survival perk used! Killer instinct perk used! Perk exhaustion setting in. **

"That's what you get if you resist. Now move it!" She said, gesturing with her still full of bullets rifle. She looked visibly tired, breathing fast.

Fuck this. She was killing my dog. I had to stop her.

Jonas spoke. "I can save him- why did you?" She fired a bullet above his head. "Move."

Addison was cursing under her breath. Daniel was muttering. I was fuming.

"Amanda, I swear to you. Through life or death, this world or another, I will not stop hunting you."

"Sit next to that pipe." She gestured at the pipe I had been chained to. We all reluctantly went down. She still had the gun.

"I have a plan for you. I am going to lock you inside- I have handcuffs on me. Then we're gonna play a game. You'll love it. We'll see how well you survive then."

She stepped near the door. "I-"

And from behind her, the blast of a shotgun came. Blood spurted out of her side. She grunted, and tried to move, when a pipe smashed her in the face, knocking her down.

**You have escaped the trap you were in in under an hour and defeated Amanda! 200 perk points awarded. Inventory unlocked.**

Into the light stepped two figures. Adam Stanheight, and Lawrence Gordon. Adam looked pumped, he'd been working out, his lanky brown haired form now massive, the pipe in his hands easy and fluid. Lawrence held a heavy shotgun, and hadn't worked out but had a deadlier look in his eyes, one of determination.

"Game over." Said Gordon.

* * *

Butterflies spiral and dance, to a mad melody that only they can hear, and storms and hurricanes arise.

I'd like to say it was some dramatic corona virus thing that took me off my normally fairly fast pace, but it was mostly figuring out how they'd escape. Took me a while to map out a route out.

DG2. He is definitely getting something from Amanda next time.

Thorison1080. Other than the system, which is sorta a dimension hopping foe, his main enemies will always be Saw apprentices. This is a Saw story. I try to use minimal OCs. We've had zero in story so far. They don't really need gamer powers, they outmatch him in a direct fight by a large margin. If he fights fair.

Arkyong. Boom.

GLMO11. The system tried to get him to commit suicide in the first chapter. The system is definitely playing with him. And he is taking advantage of his future knowledge massively, just, he started off chained to a pipe in a room without any special tools.

Soda-fiedpsycho. She beat Eric Matthews in direct combat. I'd rank him as a journeyman/ master level combatant, given how many people he took down. She's badass in combat. Maybe not badass in trap making, but she can fight, better than experienced and skilled cops who ambush her. Like, he beat the crap out of her with a pipe, including a headshot, and she still beat him. I would have gone down to a pipe like that. And yeah, he's not looking forward to Saw 3.

Akashic Records. Thanks. Soon we shall be in another world, one partially picked by users and me, and he can gain new and strange powers.

ProfesorGoblitz. Bye bye.

Next chapter will wrap this up, and after that, he's off to a new world. Any new suggestions for worlds, do say. I'll put up a poll soon.


	23. Growing on you

Adam poked Amanda with his pipe. She didn't move, but just groaned.

"She's down. So, who's the body snatcher here?"

Daniel and Jonas and not Addison, she was smart, looked at me.

"Goddammit. I need smarter minions. Here I am." I stood up, and twirled. "I am the body snatcher. Can I go cure my friends?"

He waved his hands. "Sure, sure."

I went, drew out the strong healing potion from Resident Evil 7, and drank a little. It burnt going down, but soothed my traumatized insides.

**Poison resistance levels up! Poison resistance levels up! Poison cured.**

That hadn't happened when I had used it to heal injuries, with first aid. I wasn't sure why.

Then I went to Cure and Xavier, and poured a little on each. Their wounds knitted closed, and they awoke, tendrils of flesh closing to fill the bloody hole in Xavier's side. Cure came to me, and jumped and hugged me, and Xavier got up, confused, feeling the bullet wounds on him.

"I died..." He said.

"I know." I said. "This is heaven."

He looked around. "Heaven is a sewer?"

I nodded. "Yes, we've had some budget cuts."

He looked at me for a second, cottoned on, and grinned. "You're playing me. So, did we win. Is Amanda dead?"

I nodded my head up and down, holding Cure. He didn't make eye contact with anyone but me, and was sending me lots of lovey dovey messages over our party chat.

I looked back at Gordon, not pointing his shotgun at me, but very much giving the impression that doing so was an option if I didn't comply. I gave a thumb at them.

"They deserve the real credit. They saved us." After we burnt, needled, poisoned, and deperked Amanda. Not at all salty they kill stole. "They're from Jigsaw's original trap."

He opened his hands to Gordon. "We're like brothers. Put em here, Saw survivor." He held a hand out.

"Don't be silly. We still need to work out what is going on. We don't have time for games. Come." He walked back, into the room.

"What's his beef?" Asked Xavier.

"He's a cold and unemotional doctor, only with passion for South Korean actors featured on shows such as House, Ghost Whisperer, and Seinfeld." Alexandra, also known as Carla here, his mistress.

"That seems oddly specific."

I shrugged. "I don't make the rules."

We headed back inside.

"So." I said. "How did you know that you got body snatched? I didn't think I left behind any clues." I asked Adam.

"Besides my complete personality shift? Or the fact that you searched a bunch of names I have never seen on my computer and "Busty asian chicks in sawland" On my computer?" Wow, I had been out of it then. I'd forgot doing that. "Or the fact that I felt it all. I was in there all through it, unable to move. Stuck, seeing you move my body." He paced back and forth, swaying his pipe.

"But it's fine. You saved me. We ask the questions though. Who are you?"

"I am-" I got ready to say my real name. I couldn't remember it though. I shook my head. What had it been…

"He's a planeswalker. He travels from world to world, saving people." Said Xavier. Addison added her voice. "He has powers and abilities. He granted me some of it- the ability to see danger, to talk to others from afar. He saved us."

Daniel and Jonas nodded along with it. Cure looked nervous at the strangers, and hid behind my legs.

"Why didn't you tell me this, in this room?" Asked Gordon.

Adam spoke. "Do we have to do this here? This room creeps me out."

Gordon looked around. "You experienced a little perfection, of a cold minded genius here. You should appreciate it."

I gestured at him. "Yeah, this cold minded genius- Jigsaw- he's gonna escalate. That's why I left the message on your computer. I knew you'd decrypt it. I am here to form a group to oppose it." I'd sorta planned this with the group here, but I'd assumed Gordon had gone dark side like in the original timeline. Yay butterflies.

I swept my hand out. "Things are only gonna get worse from here on in. We need to be ready. If you will accept it, I can give you all blessings of interplanar power, to aid you in this."

Jonas spoke. "You want us to go back up into that!" He said, gesturing at the house. "I'm never going back into anything like that."

I shook my head. "I need you to be ready." I looked around the group. "You all, before, drifted in life, without a clear purpose or function. Jigsaw came, and you stepped up and saved yourself. But he didn't make you. He has pressed many blades into the steel of his traps before. You were all sharp enough, strong enough to survive. You forged yourself, and you were the ones strong enough to not break. But things will get worse. That's why you need to prepare. You need to prepare others. Gordon. Will you accept my blessing?"

"What is this blessing?"

I summoned Ethan Winters from my inventory. He looked rather shocked, as I yanked away his backpack, and tossed him back into my inventory.

I then drew out a field genetic test kit, and a full jar of the healing potion, along with some herbs and a strong and weak chem fluid and herb.

"This is the solution to endless healing. With it, you can heal any wound. Master it, and you will be a doctor above all. Will that do?"

"I saw this heal a gunshot instantly. If this does what you say- I am already here to stop Jigsaw. He threatened my wife and child. I'm not letting him do that again."

"Great to have you on board." And not with Jigsaw. "How did you find us anyway?"

Adam spoke up, apparently willing to answer questions. "Because you left their names on my computer." He gestured around. "What did you do with Laura anyway?"

I shifted my form. "I have many forms, and many bodies." I said, showing off Laura's body, then my own again. "She will return, just as you did in time. May I continue blessing people?"

He looked at me. "Fine."

I turned to Daniel. "Will you accept my blessing?"

He grinned. "Do I get a magic tool as well?" I nodded. "Yes you do."

I tossed him an EMF visualizer and a laptop from the backpack. "This is a very advanced laptop. It's from the future. You've heard of Moore's Law?"

"The number of transistors on a computer doubles every year, and the cost halves."

"Yes. This is from a computer where this has happened a lot. The EMF visualizer is a device that can solve P=NP problems and hack things. Together, they give you supreme hacking powers." Computer jargon!

I turned to Jonas. "I have nothing new to offer you. But we need more improvised medical devices. As a vet, you have experience that no one else has in working in dirty, dangerous conditions. Will you aid our group, in crafting medical devices to work even in Saw dungeons?"

"If it's just crafting, I am in."

I turned to Addison and Xavier. "I need voices on the street, eyes watching. With the technology I bring, we shall have money. You can get me that knowledge. Are you up for that?"

Addison spoke. "Are you leaving us? Why? You could stay. Help us fight Jigsaw."

Xavier agreed. "Yeah. We could all play that dnd game you promised us."

I shook my head. "Like Cinderella, I vanish at midnight. Or after I sleep at least. I have many missions and places I am called to. But, I will be back."

Xavier clapped his arm to mine. "I'll miss you. I will sell many drugs in your name."

I looked at him. "Have you considered smuggling medical drugs? They're vastly overpriced in the US. Gordon could give you details. Adderal, antibiotics, insulin- I bet you could make a big legalish profit off that. Sell to soccer moms and suburbanites, rather than street types. Laura, the base form of this body- her sister needs insulin."

"I'll try it. For you." My effort at a good deed for the day.

And last, I turned to Adam. "I stole your body. I am sorry you had to go through that, but I am not sorry that I did it. You know she-" I gestured at Amanda. "Would have killed you if I hadn't?"

"You had no right to take me. It felt… dirty."

"Would you prefer I let you die."

"No!" Adam said. "But it was shitty."

I was pretty sure I could withdraw my blessings. I could yank the perks back, and take them. That gave me an idea.

"Join my party." I sent him an invite. He looked surprised at the interface in front of him, and tapped yes.

I tossed him gamer's mind level 1 and 2. I had enough points now. I set them to withdraw when I left the world.

"This will ease your suffering for a while, and begin the healing."

He blinked. "It feels better. I feel better. I don't feel trapped any more!" He danced. "I feel amazing."

"Don't embarrass yourself." Said Gordon. "So what is this group about?"

I nodded. "You need to gather money. You need to prepare yourself. Then, you need to prepare the world for Jigsaw. Everyone I searched, and everyone beyond. You need to be ready. You need to prep."

We talked some more, hashed out some details, and caught up. I won back some trust, and eventually they were good with what I was doing. I managed to convince them to leave me alone with Amanda, slowly bleeding out, and we started the real party.

I summoned Ethan and Eve again, taking the form of Mia.

"What? Where am I?" Asked Ethan. "I don't know this place." Said Eve.

"I called you here for a game." I told my family. "I'm gonna visit many worlds, and you two are gonna come with me." I clapped both their shoulders."

"Ok, sounds safer than our world" Said Ethan. Chill as ever. "What are other worlds?"

I spoke. "Every time we make a choice, a new world spins out. Every time the threads shift, the worlds change. This is another thread. And I need your help. I need that lady." I gestured to Amanda. "To become my sister." I knelt down to Eve's level, and looked at her pretty black hair and young face. "Can you help your mother?" I said, stroking her hair.

"I'd love to have a new sister. We can play games and joke." She reached over to Amanda, and tendrils of flesh flowed off her.

Amanda bolted up.

**Desperate struggle activated! Perk exhaustion worsened.**

She drew a knife from somewhere, and rammed it into Eve's arm. Eve giggled pumping more and more fungal matter into Amanda's body. Ethan stepped forward, holding Amanda down. "I guess we're doing this? I hope you have a plan." Ah, Ethan and your lack of emotion at serious events.

"She captured me and tried to kill me. She's evil."

Amanda screamed. "Get out of my head!" She rammed her fist ineffectually into Ethan repeatedly. He grunted with each punch, but not enough to move away. In time her motions slowed and she started to collapse, the spores filling her up.

I spoke. "Amanda is a naughty girl. Could you make her obey mommy as well?" Eve smiled. "She'll always love me best." "And mommy second?"

And more and more fungi pumped into Amanda. It was the perfect plague. Well hidden, mind controlling, and not super infectious because it was designed to be a stealth weapon.

Jigsaw wouldn't know what hit him. Try fucking me over with unfair traps now in Saw 3.

* * *

What problem isn't made better by adding an infectious bioengineered disease to it? Saw 3 is definitely made better, that's for sure. Next chapter, back into the void. I should have it done tomorrow, but if not, it's because I am gonna try and re-organize all his many perks and stuff into an easy and readable form. Any suggestions for the next world are welcome.

A new poll is up on my profile, for the current ideas for where to go that are horror tales.

Thorison1080. For my plotting, for each movie I have a list of the people involved, what they know or suspect, and what they might do differently. They may be more cruel, or less cruel- they can't be excessively cruel, because they like people struggling and hurting themselves and having hope which is crushed before they die horribly, and they don't know who the SI will go into. But they have plans.

Toobad69. Thanks, glad you enjoyed the twist. A lot of build up into this. He is making sure he isn't alone, and setting up for the eventually construction of Megatron v2.

Arkyong. That is not dead which can eternal lie, And with strange aeons even death may die. On the fate of Amanda.

Sansas22. It's an option in the polls. Vote, and push final destination, and we shall see how death handles macgyver. Notably, I am currently following the same solution people used there to avoid death, hiding away in an isolated house.

Crimsonsylvan. Yeah, if she'd maintained tactical awareness she might have won this one. She's a better shot than Gordon. Never gloat. And prototype is a bit too high power for him atm, and not super conductive to fun horror. Minecraft isn't horror. Unless you have some idea how either could make for some fun survival horror?

Soda-fied Psycho. Yes, Saw 3 is quite a bit changed now.

Dr Cookie Deleter. Any part of Spawn? Looks like a big universe.

Mistersnx. Is there good survival horror in Gears? Mostly looks like action. And, depends on if you all pick a world where he gets abducted again.

Watermelonninja. Added.

Vote on worlds, and next time you shall see all his perk options.


	24. Will to live

Jigsaw finally felt the drugs wear off him. He could force his way out of them, but such actions were costly. He had set up the perfect trap. Gordon, a cold hearted and cruel doctor who had misdiagnosed him, him! He was locked up in this room, chained to a pipe. His wife and daughter abducted. He would have to cut off his own foot to free himself, and slay his companion.

Adam. Some drifter nobody. Guy had been trying to catch him. He'd stuck him in here as well. Nobody would miss him.

He hoped that Gordon could help as his apprentice. A moderately skilled doctor such as him could make many things a lot more effective. His trap for Amanda say- it hadn't been his best. She had to kill a man she hated, her drug dealer, and dig through her stomach. It would have been much better if she had to dig through herself, perhaps through her eye, but he lacked the surgical skills to do that and have her survive.

That had gone to shit. He'd heard it, seen it all. Adam had somehow pulled out a mechanical mastery that impressed even him, forging items together to make an escape plan. He had learned well from his stalking who Amanda was, and baited her into the room. The pair of them had escaped without sacrificing a drop of blood.

It might just be that he hadn't scouted them enough. Or Summer had drawn another into one of his mad dances. He would see in time.

After escaping, they had shoved a key up his rear, and left some items here and there. It was rough, but not as rough as some of his prostate exams. He had plans for those doctors too. Amanda had found a tape saying she could be freed if she found the key. She had reached inside him, pulled it out and tried it to naught.

Probably because of how Amanda did her traps. He'd noticed hers were more lethal than they should be. Adam's even. He had told her to tie the key to his ankle. She'd just tossed it on his chest, and down the drain it went. He could understand their taunting. Still, there should always be a chance. Give people a chance to seek life.

And he had his own tape.

"Master I am sorry. I didn't… the tape" she said, crying, scared of what would happen."

John Kramer held a hand up.

"Save it. Let's get out of here."

He played his tape.

"Hello, John Kramer. I'd like to play a game. This game is called, do you actually care about your principles? You left Adam no way to escape, you trapped Gordon's wife and child with a gun man with no way to escape."

The trap had been for Gordon, not for Adam or his wife. They had all had their chances. Adam could have cut off his foot, and if he had survived the hour he could have let him out. Gordon's wife and daughter could defeat one poisoned gun man. They just needed a will to live. "You trapped Mark Wilson in a room with countless numbers, and no way to find which one would let him out. You make death traps, with no way to escape."

One of the numbers was a different color. Mark Wilson was just a bit unobservant. "But that's all the past. Now you are trapped with an apprentice. Hidden in the wall by you is a hacksaw. Amanda's ankle is chained to the wall, and your ankle is chained to hers. You could show you are really dedicated to your philosophy, and endure some pain. Cut off your own foot. Show your will to live. Or you, the stronger one who Amanda has no chance against, could cut off her foot. The choice is yours. She may bleed out. Her life is up to chance if you cut off her foot. Do you intent to give everyone a fair chance? Make your choice."

He stood up, grabbed the hacksaw. No choice.

"What are you doing?" Asked Amanda, trusting.

He looked down on her, like a daughter, his apprentice.

"This will hurt you a lot more than me." He said, looking at her ankle.

He grabbed her, and overpowered her easily, pushing her flat against the dirty bathroom floor. He gave her a piece of bathroom rubble.

"Bite down on this."

She nodded, and did so.

"I don't wan-." She said, sobbing, no longer speaking clearly.

He didn't intend to lose a foot. He pressed the hacksaw to her ankle and started to slice. He cut and cut, through skin, nerve, bone, and blood vessel. Blood dripped across the floor and Amanda screamed and shook, making it worse than it was. His saw ripped through her flesh, purifying it as his hands were splattered with blood. If Amanda's will to live was strong she would survive.

Macgyver would pay.

* * *

I walked through the portal back to my world, feeling chill and relaxed. I'd grinded some more skills, chatted with the group, set up some stuff for the future saw films, and had a lovely long bath with some wine, ice cream, and some trashy tv.

I felt great. I felt light, powerful, relaxed. These perks were pretty cool. I was pretty sure gamer's mind could cure depression and other severe mental illnesses. I would definitely have had ptsd and nightmares and stuff from resident evil without it. That place was a real horror. No way to escape, a constant cycle of death and pain and torture, for over a year.

Now I was cured, and had a neat skill from it. I'd regenerated my mental health like a video game character regenerates normal health and was chill. I even had Cure with me. I petted his ears. This place would be a lot less lonely with him.

I had a method to all my madness.

I should have trusted my fear. I remembered once I had been out on the street's of London, a little drunk, and I had just legged it. I didn't know what it was, but I'd trusted my fear. I had gone as fast as my unsteady form could go, hearing in my head horror music as the narrative closed in on me. There was something inside me that knew more than I did. It tasted the blood in the air, heard the shift of foot, recognized the isolated nature of the brick walls around me and how here was just right for an ambush. I hadn't spotted the second guy though...

Anyway, fear was good. I'd not let fear drive me here, and worked to try and befriend everyone, even total psychos. Amanda had tried to make me pay for it. Next time I was with a psycho, I wouldn't trust them and they'd pay. I'd learn from this.

And next time, I wasn't just going for fear, or recovery from madness. I was going for power.

Now it was time to check my perk list. I had earned quite a bit more.

**Survival perks**

**Apocalypse prepper. Rare journeyman skill. You have achieved the peak of your career in surviving danger through observation, crafting, and scavenging. You can 10 times per day force additional uses out of common items, and once a week force an additional use out of an uncommon object, and in addition gain +10 HP per level. 100 points.**

**Civil engineering. Rare journeyman skill. You have achieved a basic competency at developing buildings. You do double damage against buildings, and can build them twice as fast. Once a day, you can find a key weakness in a building structure, if present. 100 points.**

**Gacha. The will to seek and find, even in a sparse place. You find one extra common item a day to use for whatever purposes you wish. Constant between deaths. Every week you can find one uncommon item, and greater items await if you can survive longer. The timer starts as soon as you enter a world. 3 points.**

**Gachaman. Your will to grasp reaches greater heights. You can find one chosen common item whatever purposes you wish, or one uncommon item once a week. 6 points**

**Packrat. You are skilled at holding objects, and can always find a way to balance or hold items, if your strength and materials permit it. Once a day you can draw out a common storage object. 3 points.**

**Packhorse. You can hold twice your normal carrying capacity, and once a week draw out an uncommon storage object. 6 points.**

**Outside the box. Gain one common hint to any trap you are trapped in, revealing a course of action or a solution to some aspect of it. Can be used once a day, and will will not vary between deaths. 3 points. **

**Break the box. Gain one common item useful to the trap you are in, and one uncommon hint. Can be used once a week. 6 points**

**Picture perfect. You can observe any object or sound or sense under a minute long, and perfectly commit it to memory. No more need to rely on tape recorders! 3 points.**

**Video perfect. An upgrade perk, allowing you to observe things up to ten minutes long. 6 points.**

**Death's Calling. Gain an unnatural chill whenever a deathly intent is near. Works once an hour. Grants +2 wisdom for the sake of detecting deathly intent. 3 points.**

**Death's Touch. You have a continual sense of any deadly intents near you, and +4 wisdom for the sake of detecting deathly intent. 6 points. Requires prior perk.**

**First aid perks**

**Medical scrub. You have a basic understanding of the human body, and automatically succeed at treating any common conditions. You can get a job as a nurse. 25 points.**

**Poison maniac. You're resistant to common poisons, and once a day can find a common poison on your person. 3 points.**

**Baseball perks. **

**Local expert. You're pretty good at baseball. You can dominate the local field, and earn a modest salary as a sports teacher. 25 points.**

**Power attack. The will to destroy. Focus your will and hate and unleash it against a target in range. Does double damage at the cost of 2 stamina, and causes a critical hit if focused on a weak point. 3 perk points. **

**Computers perks.**

**IT specialist. You have a substantial expertise in searching, and can earn a moderate income of 40000 a year. 25 perk points.**

**Robotics experts. You have a good competency at building crude electronic devices to aid you in your quest. Once per day, debug a serious fault in an improvised robot. 25 perk points.**

**Useful device. You can summon a fairly modern tablet computer, without mobile access, to use for whatever purposes you need. Doesn't come with a charging cable! 3 perk points.**

**Diplomacy perks.**

**Raid leader. You are a competent leader, and skilled at organizing dangerous situations. Once per combat scenario you can bolster all your followers, granting them +2 stats and +10 HP. 25 points.**

**Diplomacy Number one/ two minion. When you follow through on orders you gain a +2 stat bonus. In addition, once a day you can gain 1 or more rep from succeeding exceptionally on supporting your leader in a task. 3 points. **

**Doggie pal. Your doggie friend will be able to come with you on adventures! They will be found chained up in a random location in your next adventure. 3 points.**

**Fluid shapeshifter. For the sake your companions, you adopt whatever form is most pleasing, so long as you have purchased it. 6 points.**

**This is my final form. Using stamina proportionate to the difference in stats, adopt the stats and skills of any form you have purchased. 100 points.**

**Stealth perks.**

**Stealthy predator. You are a skilled predator, avoiding notice from any not greatly gifted in senses. You can find enough food to survive in any natural scenario. 25 points.**

**Holdaway compartment. You can hold one small item away from the notice of any searchers. A very thorough search may still find it. 3 points**

**Hungry for flesh. By consuming the flesh of humans or other sentient beings, especially their brains, you can gain some degree of their knowledge and secrets. 6 points.**

**Shooting perks.**

**Gangbanger. You are good with a gun, and can probably hit something ten feet away. With a long period of focus you can aim better. 25 points.**

**One bullet. You have one extra bullet for a gun of your choice. 3 points. **

**Constitution perks.**

**Fast food skin. Your excessive consumption of fast food has left you obese, with +2 constitution per level and greasy skin that is hard to grab onto. 3 points.**

**Desperate struggle. Your will to fight, to live, to stay alive in the face of terrible injuries. Regain 10 HP and remove 10% of a stat debuff. Can cause long term damage, and is only useable once per month, requiring substantial rest to heal. 6 points.**

**Strength perks.**

**Drug fuelled strength. By use of steroids and extensive workouts, you have pushed your strength beyond normal mortal limits. You can do impressive feats, and once a day do a feat with 10 extra strength. 25 points.**

**Break it down. Once an hour, you can with no additional consequences break a door or wall down within your strength to break. 3 points. **

**Wisdom perks. **

**Enlightened mind. You have mastered your mind to a degree beyond most, and achieved enlightenment. Gain increased resistance to pain, social laws, and once a day you can do a feat of great wisdom with 10 extra wisdom. 25 points.**

**Clear thinking. Your focused efforts at mastering your mind allow you a moment of supreme clarity, once a day. Gives you the effect of a minute of normal thinking. 3 points. **

**Minimap. Your clear and focused sense of what and who you are gives you a solid mental map of where you have been, which you can call up at will. 3 points.**

**Supernatural perks.**

**Gamer perks.**

**Gamer's body. 100 perk points. Gain a basic form of the gamer's body. All healing is 100% faster, and you have a reduced need for food and water. All physical stat debuffs are reduced by 10%.**

**Gamer's body upgraded. For an extra 200 points, you can upgrade this to the second level. 20% reduce in all physical stat debuffs, and all physical conditions will be healed within one day.**

**Gamer's mind. 100 perk points. Gain a basic form of the gamer's mind. All mental healing is 100% faster, and you have a reduced need for sleep. All mental stat debuffs are reduced by 10%.**

**Gamer's mind- upgraded. For an extra 200 points, you can upgrade this to the second level. 20% reduce in all mental stat debuffs, and all mental conditions will be healed within one day.**

**Gamer's mind- double upgraded. For an extra 300 points, you can upgrade this to the third level. 30% reduce in all mental stat debuffs, and all mental conditions will be healed in one hour. **

**Backup Gamer's mind. If your gamer's mind is ruptured, a new one will replace the old one within an hour. 6 points. **

**Final death. 2 perk points. You really should have taken it. It would have been kinder.**

**Eternal death. 4 perk points. You, and all of your companions will be dead, forever, with no afterlife or chance of resurrection.**

**Inventory. 100 perk points. A basic form of an inventory, with 8 slots. Works between deaths and worlds. **

**Enhanced inventory. For an extra 200 points, you can upgrade this to the second level. 16 slots.**

**Backup chest. You can store up to 8 items here, swapping them in and out of your inventory. 6 points.**

**Physical perks.**

**Lockpicking. 3 points. You can once a day find a common lockpick and use it skillfully enough to defeat common locks. **

**Batteries. 3 points. You can once a day find a battery of your choice, and use it to power a device.**

**Magic user. 100 perk points. You gain access to the ability to use spells, rituals, and potions. Need magical components to perform.**

**Ninja body. 100 perk points. You gain access to the ability to enhance your body with chi. Use 10 stamina a second to enhance your physical stats by 50%. **

**Super strength. 50 points. You can produce temporary feats of super strength, beyond that of normal humans. Once an hour, at the cost of 10 health, gain +20 strength for one action. **

**Elemental perks **

**Air mastery. 50 perk points. Gain a basic mastery of air. You can summon enough air for a breath for one stamina, and manipulate it in minor ways for one stamina a second.**

**Earth mastery. 50 perk points. Gain a basic mastery of earth. You can manipulate in minor ways as much unworked earth as you could hold in a hand for one stamina a second.**

**Hand of earth. You always have a hand of earth on hand for use. 3 points.**

**Earth supremacy. 100 perk points. You have an advanced mastery of earth, and can fluidly manipulate it well enough to form commonly seen objects. **

**Metal mastery. 50 perk points. ?**

**Fire mastery. 50 perk points. Gain a basic mastery of fire. You can summon enough fire as a candle for one stamina, and manipulate it in minor ways for one stamina a second.**

**Water mastery. 50 perk points. Gain a basic mastery of water. You can manipulate in minor ways as much water as you could hold in your mouth for one stamina a second.**

**Zombie perks**

**Zombie bite! You can inflict a controlled infection on someone, passing on a disease you have. With greater disease control you can selectively pass on infections or not. 6 points. **

**Zombie spit! You can spit a glob of toxic disease fluids, likely infecting** **anyone you hit, and doing a constant 10 damage a second to them. Damage may increase with some diseases. 6 points.**

**Plague master! You can store one plague between worlds, reinfecting yourself. 6 points.**

**Disease purge. Choose a disease you have. Exert your will on yourself or another, and reduce symptoms to low levels. Note. Long term perk, requires a lot of stamina. 6 points.**

**Free perks. Flexible bones. You can dislocate and break your bones fluidly, and heal faster from such actions, allowing you to escape traps and problems.**

**R&R perks.**

**Relive the trauma. In your personal space, replay the experiences that hurt you. Popcorn, doritos, and mountain dew included. 3 points. Locked in.**

**Dedicated fridge. In your personal space, you have a fridge with a good selection of food and a microwave. 3 points.**

**Punching bag. In your personal space you have a punching bags and some weights, which you can use to work off some personal trauma.**

Nice set of upgrades. I think at 10 stat points I got upgraded perks to pick from. Plus, now I had done more stuff with guns I had perks for that too. Wooo! And using gamer's mind and gamer's body had upgraded them. What to choose...

* * *

IT is leading the polls right now. Will he go to IT, or another universe? Find out and see. There will be one more chapter for stat stuff and reflection, and then onto the next side mission.

Arkyong. Alright.

Zackman2k12. Thanks to you too for the review.

Thorison1080. I'll cover this next chapter but, totally, yes and no. Resident evil plagues aren't reliable bioweapons, and his disease control is too low to reliably control it. So, it'll be touch and go.

Dr. Cookie Deleter. I'll add it to the list.

Watermelonninja. That does give me some cool ideas for next time, thanks. Creepy father christmas.

See you next time, where we will go over his plans. Any perk suggestions are appreciated. For the future I'll make this a google doc so you have less long perk chapters.


	25. Clowning around no more

Have you ever been in a situation where you just felt "I hate this, I wish I could turn back time and do it again?" I often have. I could have done so much better if I could just go back and plan for it, prepare for it.

Now, short of time magic, which wasn't an available skill for me, there was one way to do this. A lot of planning. If you thought up in advance what you should do for every situation and prepared for it, you wouldn't be in danger.

For example, back on earth prime, I live in a flood risk zone. Area gets fucked up often enough and power lines can die, access can die. So of course, I have power packs, batteries. I am a prepper, so I have several freezers of food, survival supplies, and a secret place nearby in the woods where I can run if my neighbors turn into blood thirsty zombies and try to eat me.

I know you, Karen. You would totally try to eat my brains.

I have plans for all the likely dangerous possibilities. When I enter a new place I scout out the exits, try to work out where is safe to go, where is unsafe.

When I fuck up, I work out how to not fuck up in the future.

After Saw 1, I had a more solid grinding plan. It had worked. I was much stronger in preparation for Saw 2. After Resident Evil I had decided to rely more heavily on teamwork, and I had tried it here.

But one of my team mates was Amanda, and another was Obi, and another was Gus. I had such a focused vision on them, I ignored the signs, the reputation losses. I had let myself be poisoned again. I hadn't worked out in time. I had to burn one of my impossibly valuable healing potions to survive. I had grinded well there, and got a host of skills and powers from it. I opened my stat window.

**Name: Macgyver**

**Job: Gamer**

**Level: 1 (0/100)**

**Title. Macgyver**

**HP: ?**

**Stamina: ?**

**Strength: 12**

**Constitution: 3**

**Dexterity: 3**

**Intelligence: 7**

**Wisdom: 12**

**Luck: 0**

**1000 perk points available.**

**2 stat point available.**

**Skills**

**First aid level 8 30/100 exp**

**Survival, advanced apprentice grade, covers observation, crafting, and scavenging. Level 13 4/100 exp**

**Baseball, level 9 10/100 exp**

**Stealth, level 30 0/100 exp**

**Computers, level 45 34/100 exp**

**Disease control, advanced apprentice grade, level 27 76/100 exp**

**Diplomacy, level 89, 93/100 exp**

**Shooting. Level 64, 67/100 exp**

**Poison Resistance. Level 9, 75/100 exp**

**Unarmed combat. Level 4, 25/100 exp**

**Animal handling, level 10, 95/100 exp**

**Earth control, level 11, 55/100 exp**

I had dumped quite a few points into my group of allies back in Sawland. I hoped it would pay off. I wasn't going to go into Saw 3 alone, not with Amanda's fuckery. But still, I had a 1000 free, and solid stats. I needed stronger stats though. I hadn't ranked any of my stats other than disease control and survival to rank two, and I wanted more sweet perks and buffs. I needed more stats- at 10 I was pretty sure, I got access to new perks and skills.

I needed some actual combat skills I could use as well. So, I needed some solid time to grind.

Above that though, I needed to grind my exotic magic skills. I needed an edge above what had happened before. Jigsaw was gonna be ready for me, and I could expect some fuckery. I needed to be stronger, in a way that Jigsaw couldn't predict. I needed my A game for Saw 3. It was a big one.

I went over to my new kitchen. There was a lovely new fridge, stolen from the nerve gas house, thank you for trauma. It was painted white. I went in, and found… ooh, tinned of baked beans. I opened it, and in honour of Rorschach, flipped off the lid and ate it cold. It was nice to be able to eat food not a decade old.

Cure was hungry for my food, and making sounds at my feet. I patted his adorable head, knelt down on my void floor and nuzzled him.

"Good boy. Don't worry. I'll make sure you're well fed." He was a bit unsure and hesitant walking on the black void of the abyss below us, so he definitely needed some re-assurance. I found some dog food, and sat down with him, feeding him spoon fulls of food with my fingers, testing my agility to dodge hungry lips.

"So, Cure, my better fed and beautiful brown doggie, I made some mistakes. I tried to make friends, but with toxic people. Toxic people always betray you. This isn't an anime where you save everyone with true friendship and love and hope. This is Saw."

He looked up at me, not really caring or understanding me, but hungry for meat.

He had 3 int now, after nomming on Amanda. He might be able to understand language. But for now, hunger dominated.

"I need to learn to not trust bad people, and plan ahead around everyone I meet. Yes I do, yes I do." I said, as I rubbed his neck.

And there was something else… I blinked and tried to remember it, but I couldn't pull it to mind. Even after I had dumped the extra points in int. Annoying.

Oh, new title. Macgyver. I focused on it.

**Jigsaw. John Kramer and Amanda know you now! You have been dubbed Macgyver, after the mechanical genius who escaped many a trap. Any reputation gains with John or his apprentices are doubled, and you can construct devices 100% faster. **

That would be appreciated. And I could sense with my wisdom- I got a passive, emotional, intuitive sense of titles- that this would also make it easier for me to do complex tasks.

Well, I had things to work out. And I had Saw 2 to watch, back at my couch, along with Resident Evil 7 to play. It was time for me to think through Saw 3.

I got up, and patted Cure's side. "Ready to watch some torture porn with me?"

Cure barked, which I interpreted as yes.

* * *

I had really gotten RE7 wrong. Eve was the villain? But she seemed so nice. Maybe it wasn't the best of ideas having her infect Amanda. Oh well. Yolo.

Like, I definitely wasn't sure that mind control was gonna work. Basically everyone in RE went crazy. But, it would be a valuable experiment, and good for the future. I definitely was not experimenting myself with those spores till we knew more. I had given some to Gordon to play with, and I had given them a contact number for Amanda to give them info.

I hoped it worked. If not, well, turning into a zombie monster was real sad for her, but I would get over it.

I ate another hand of popcorn, and rubbed Cure's ears. He seemed a lot calmer, now we were away from other people.

I glanced at my skills. Nope, no animal control from this. I was pretty sure I couldn't grind in here.

I needed to grind hard for Saw 3. There was a real risk. I could get caught in a death spiral. Eternally living and dying with no hope of survival.

I had two choices for that. I could go to IT. There, the foe was a weird creepy clown, and I could pretty easily avoid him and go off and grind and power up.

Or, Alien. There I would face challenges, but I could loot cool tech, learn from cool people, and violently handle most things there.

I was leaning towards IT. A bunch of eager kids had killed that clown. I was pretty sure I could handle it. Big risk of getting into a death spiral if I spawned into the cat in Alien or something.

IT it was. Pennywise, here I come.

I dropped a cool 606 points into fully leveling up my gamer's mind. Against Pennywise, I needed every edge. Another 6 went into the backup chest, so I could swap things in and out. I grabbed a holdaway compartment for my special Pennywise surprise, and became a stealthy predator so I could dodge him better. 640 down.

Picture perfect and video perfect- I felt tension on the video perfect. I was pretty sure this one was dependent on my host body. If I had 11 int, I could use it. If not, I needed more. 649. Packrat and Packhorse. 658.

Desperate struggle, enlightened mind, clear thinking, minimap, drug fueled strength, break it down. 723.

Gamer's body was a must. 823. Ninja body, because I wanted to branch out my skills, and earth mastery so I could grind that out. 973. Let's add in local expert, and I have exactly 2 points left for final death.

Still a no on that. I could fight, I could experiment, and he wouldn't break my mind.

Into IT I went.

This time the journey was different. I stepped through the portal and saw- a field of roses, as bright as suns. They glowed around my feet. High above me, piercing the clouds, I could see it rise. It felt vaster than me. It's atoms, larger than my body, all consuming. Twelve forces pierced the tower from below. Massive, with monsters on each of them, they held it above all, supporting it against the dragging force holding it down.

And I was down in a body. I was wet. I was wearing yellow. I was looking down a sewer.

Eyes, glowing, flashed in front of me. I saw thick red lips, and a thick nose, white cloth around it's neck.

"Hi there Georgie! What a nice boy. Do you want it back."

Oh fuck. This was not a good place.

"No, keep it pedo clown. I don't take gifts from sewer clowns" I got up to head away. I saw a look of panic on his face, then understanding.

His hand lunged out, and grabbed my foot.

**Demigod level entity encounter. Complete gamer failure imminent. Good luck.**

I felt a stabbing, tearing pain, like my skin being ripped off, my soul burnt bare. I felt the strength tear out of me. Every bit of knowledge, every skill, every power I had as the gamer torn out of me. I looked back. He had it in his hand- a yellow ball of fluid, twisting and turning, trying to escape.

He pulled it to his mouth, and bit into it.

"You came to the wrong part of town, Macgyver." He said, with a giggle.

And I heard Georgie's voice screaming in my mind, in my head, as I lost control of my body. Georgie was back in the captain's chair.

Well, fuck.

* * *

Time to see how he handles not having gamer powers as a crutch and having control of the body he is in as a crutch.

Alien Isolation is top now. I've not played it. I can definitely see it as a solid place to go. I think I am leaning towards IT as his next world, but I could definitely be persuaded to run it next. I haven't played it yet, but since I am under quarantine, I definitely could. Why do people like it so much?

Thorison1080. I guess you shall have to read and find out. Also yes.

Arkyong. The MC got abducted before corona virus was a thing, so he can't make any jokes about it. Stuff around the topic is gonna bubble up, since I am a prepper and corona virus is all around.

Tetsujinvinalay. Creepy clowns coming up tomorrow.

Gatling2745. Thanks for all the perks and world ideas. I'll add them to the list for next time. So many worlds. Maybe I'll have him speed run several sometime. And no, elder gods can break max level gamer's mind, though it could resist at the edges for a while. Grandmaster isn't the final rank. I have a bunch of ranks planned beyond it, like transcendental, demigod, god, elder god, primordial. He can sorta manage with max ranks against transcendental and demigod, but beyond that it would just snap unless he buffed it somehow. Not that he would be stopped by that. He tried to kill a grandmaster at level 1. Get the right leverage and gods can die.

DG2. He is a total hypocrite. He doesn't follow his own rules and is really inconsistent. People make a lot out of the philosophy of a suicidal dude with brain cancer.

Crimsonsylvan. He would happily go to Minecraft, just he only gets options for horror movies and games. There are lots of places he would love to go to grind. And, he probably isn't genetically unique like Mercer. He would have to convince Mercer to upgrade him. But yeah, once he does that, serious gameshift, no more survival horror. That said, I more meant, he would probably die quickly and repeatedly, since the limits to his combat skills are being ok at shooting and basic at baseball, and he wouldn't have any easy way to ramp up. Plus, he probably wouldn't have unique DNA and wouldn't be great to evolve. He's not that lucky.

Soda-fied psycho. Totally the best perk ever. He needs to step up his jerkass game. Piss off everyone.

Incognitominerals. Some fuckery is definitely going on with Summer. And yeah, around Saw 3, much will be revealed.

See next time Jigsaw vs Macgyver with no body, skills, and in the hands of a psychotic clown who likes balloons.


	26. In a cave with a box of bones

Everything was fine. I had expected this.

Well maybe not precisely this. It was kind of a shock having augmentations I had for over a year just casually ripped off like a mask. But I had expected something bad.

Everyone knew Pennywise the creepy clown who unwise kids went to get paper boats from. Seriously kids, say no to toys from sewer clowns.

There was more to him than that. He was an ancient being, billions of years old. A member of the deadlights, eldritch beings of immense power, part of the Red faction of chaos. In the Stephen King mythos there was a central tower called the Dark Tower. It connected all of his books, and was central. I had seen it when I entered. IT drew his power from a terrible place, the Macroverse. He had horrible power and desires.

And he used it to turn into a clown and eat kids. What a waste. Anyway, I didn't know the power ranking of my Random Omnipotent Being and IT, so I was aware there was a certain risk of something like this happening.

My head banged on a rocky outcropping, and my host screamed.

Annoying. Regardless, I had a plan to get out of this. I could survive this, and regain my power. I actually had planned out almost exactly this scenario, but I had assumed I would be in the driver seat. This could work though.

Pennywise had immense power, vastly greater than my gamer power, was called The World Eater and was opposed by a magic turtle who created worlds, and I was powerless in the body of a small child who had been eaten to motivate his brother to try hard in the original film. That seemed to be a trend. I was the expendable motivator. The person who died to help inspire the real hero.

But IT had major weaknesses. He was strong, durable, but bound to the forms he was stuck in. He was vulnerable to the infinite creativity of children, to the power of friendship and vastly weakened when faced by fearless people.

And I wasn't weaker than before. I was different. The game had been pushing down my old self. It had blocked my memory, ripped my mind away from thinking of Summer, it had twisted my thoughts. It had taken my name from me. Peter.

I was a science teacher, judo lover, prepper, fencer, dnd player, chemist, tinker. I was that even without my powers. No spooky clown was going to stop me.

I pushed at my boundaries. I was stuck behind, like Adam, Mia, Laura had been, but they'd found ways to talk to me at times. I felt my soul constricted, like it was behind a vice. I strained muscles I didn't know I had, and felt the vice inch away- then force it's way back.

I couldn't brute force my way out. Maybe… what did I know about Georgie. He was obsessed with his brother. He'd been rejected, before he died. He trusted sewer clowns, so was pretty gullible. He liked boats? Maybe.

Let's try that. Family connection.

"Bill. Bill needs you." His bro.

He stopped screaming, and looked around, instantly diverted.

"Bill? Bill? Where are you?" He asked. IT likely expected this, and didn't react.

"Not outloud." I said in his head. "Think it. I'm not Bill, but I am here to get you home."

"What are you?"

"A psychic being who enters people to help them."

"Like a space vampire?"

If I had eyes, I would have blinked confused.

"They bite people and turn into people and come from space." He continued.

A distant memory hit me. Lifeforce? Some crappy 80s movie.

"Yes, I am a psychic vampire. You figured me out."

"I knew I could."

Pennywise looked a little unhappy. George had stopped struggling, distracted for now.

"I need you to help me. Pennywise drained my-"

"Are you going to burst out of my chest?"

I had seen that film when I was three! "Like Alien?"

"You're a space alien vampire?" He said in his mind, shocked.

"I am. We're about to have a hard time. I need you to do something for me."

"What?" He said.

"He's gonna use his fear magic on you. He's a fairy. You know what fairies are?"

He shook his head.

"Remember in Alien the big black thing with the tongue?"

"Yeah, that was sick!"

"That was a fairy. It tortured the crew by sneaking around and then ate them. The clown is a fairy like that. They have two weaknesses."

"Grappling hooks and fire?"

"Yes, exactly. Their big weakness is cold iron though, and being burnt."

"My cousin dares to interfere. Ruining my meat. I'll show him!" Said Pennywise.

"Remember!" I said quickly. "No darkness is a match for a flamethrower. And inside the heart of every boy lies a flame to burn things. I'll make a flame for you."

Pennywise slapped Georgie's head. It rung and shook me, and I felt dizzy.

"Go away, little thief. Stealing into my world. I'll show you fear."

And my world faded away.

I was back. In a familiar place. My parent's house. The largest house on the block. Old, cracked walls, a green garden, a rockery, two shrubs where trees once were, sliced down because they undermined the wall. Brick walls. The smell of spring.

I went into my house. I walked in, went to my room. Small, with dinosaur pictures on the door, back when I wanted to be a paleontologist.I sat on my bed, familiar and trustworthy.

My parents came in. My bald father, kindly, friendly. My mother, now with greying hair, short, loving. But not now. They screamed and screamed at me. Told me to get out of their house. That they didn't know who I was. I felt an aching pain. Why wouldn't they recognize me? I pulled out photos, but my spot was burnt out, empty.

The police came, and took me away. I was locked up. They forgot me. They never came they never loved me. I was alone. I had been forgotten, abandoned. Erased from the world. No purpose, no function. I was nothing.

Some inner fire pushed back inside me.

No. I was Peter. That was my name. I would not be forgotten. This didn't even make sense. There had been no transition between my home and the police station. The pictures and words I had seen- they changed when I looked at them, like a dream. And my parents loved me, and would never forget me. I was unforgettable.

**Mental pressure lifted. Backup gamer mind activated.**

It didn't stop the fog. The confusion. But it took the edge off. I felt one the last remnants of the gamer powers slide over me, shielding my mind, protecting me, pushing down the mental pressure. IT had another weakness. They weren't the most perceptive. They'd missed a few things, clearing me out. Like this hidden power.

The police were ignoring me, so I ran out of my cell. I stopped in a cleaning closet, the kitchen, their medical supplies and picked up chemicals I knew would ignite and burn. Then I ran and ran and ran till my lungs burnt, till I reached the well in the countryside I had set on fire so long ago.

This world was dreamlike. IT had trapped me in an illusion of my fears. A fear of being forgotten. I poured the chemicals together. Glycerine and potassium permanganate made fire.

Once more, the well, stone, solid, fixed in the green countryside burnt. The heat burnt me as much as any real fire, the smoke choked my lungs, prime English countryside being destroyed in my mindscape.

I screamed out Georgie's name, again and again, and called him to my fire.

And I felt Georgie's eyes on me. His fear was darkness. I was the light. There was something chasing him. A bat human monster, with red flesh. The vampire from Lifeforce.

I had a weapon. It was mine. I pulled out a cold iron blade, thin and sharp. And as the vampire got close, I stabbed. I felt my hand rip through flesh as the vampire was pierced, and screamed, glowing blue energy burning out of them and-

We snapped back. If I killed Pennywise's avatar in dream world, did he die in real world?

We were floating in the air. We were in Pennywise's central depot, there to act as fear batteries. There was a massive pile of toys and bones and clothes and scraps from Pennywise' past conquests, along with the corpses of his past kills.

"You made it out! Well done."

He nodded. "I was so scared in the darkness. There were things there, looking for me. Chasing me. But then I saw your light and you stopped it."

"Just like in the film." I said. "Cold iron stops fairies."

"Are vampires fairies?" I nodded.

"Basically. Distant cousins at least. Stab them in the heart with cold iron, and they die. We need to get out of here. Can you reach that bone?"

I sent a mental image of the bone of some past victim sticking out of the pile.

"Eww." He grimaced, and reach out, and grabbed the bone.

"Pull us both out of this telekinetic trap." He tugged and pulled, and we slowly drifted away from the center spot. Then the bone yanked out, along with blood and gore, splattering our faces. We span around and bounced around in the telekinetic trap.

"I'm gonna be sick!" He thought at me.

"Put your hand over your mouth. For Billie, for life, for Ripley!" I shouted at him.

He put his hand over his mouth as he began retching and retching, the spinning and blood of the situation disturbing his stomach.

He was having trouble. Like something was caught in his throat. Then he finished, and coughed it out. He just grabbed it.

A plastic bag. My holdaway pouch. P2 of my escape plan.

Pennywise wasn't the most observant. He was arrogant. He had left us here as a fear battery, and then ran off to fuck with more people. I knew he would do this. I had thought of this before we came- he trapped kids to use as batteries, I could escape that. In the film and book he hadn't, since his brother had taken months to find him, but I was an escape artist. Backup gamer's mind and holdaway compartment? They were both secret. Hidden. You needed to really search to find them, by nature of what they were. If any psychic could break your gamer mind and backup gamer's mind was obvious then that would be broken as well. So, it was secret.

I am sure IT could have broken both. But he assumed just ripping away my powers- which still hurt- would be enough. Now we had it. We slowed down, thanks to air resistance and Georgie got control of his wrenching, and then he felt through it. There were a couple things in here.

A cold iron knife. A heavy doctor's syringe. Several coloured pills. Antibiotics, morphine pills, a little capsule of cocaine.A piece of golden jewelry from Addison.

Weed was a schedule 1 drug in the USA. Far too dangerous for people to have. Cocaine was schedule 2, and so of course it was available and regularly used as an anesthetic. Much safer than weed, so sayeth the government. Silly. I thought I'd have to ask Xavier for it, but Gordon just had them all. Drug laws in the USA were crazy.

"I used my vampire fairy powers to get us these. He stripped me of most of my power though, this is all I can bring."

He got a sly look in his eyes, and then took out the cold iron knife and pointed it at himself.

"Vampires are bad. Are you going to eat me?"

What was he gonna do, stab himself?

"Fairies can't lie. That's one of our rules. Ask me anything." That definitely wasn't a rule I was bound to.

"What's the average air speed of an unladen swallow?"

"What species?"

"I don't know..."

"Hahaha, you can't answer me, you lose the riddle off." I replied.

"But then why am I not flying away?"

"Because you watch too many age inappropriate movies." He floated for a while, and then spoke, in a very serious tone.

"Do you intend to hurt my brother? I can't let that happen."

"I intend no intentional harm to any of those, though in the fight against the clown there is some risk of harm. I will do my best to keep you safe."

He thought through it for a second, and then nodded, and spoke.

"So how do we get out of this?"

"The needle is an artificial vampire weapon. It drains magic. You need to stab it into someone, and suck my powers back out. Then I can defeat the evil clown fairy. The other weapon is cold iron. If you strike at the clown without fear in your heart you can gravely injure him. The pills are drugs to help protect you- the red one is an antibiotic which you should take now, because I am pretty sure we caught everything on the way you mean this trap, we need to go back and grab more of the floating gore parts."

He swallowed the red pill. "Didn't work last time. My side hurts from the bone. I'm pretty sure I bruised!"

"A bruise is a lesson, and each lesson makes us better. Try and find a bone that's firmer in. They can't all be loose."

He spent a while, moaning and complaining all the while about touching the bloody corpses of children's bodies, but eventually we found a bone that was connected to a body pretty firmly. He yanked and yanked and eventually we snapped out of the trap.

"He'll be back soon. We need to prepare." I said. "Grab whatever armor you can from the pile- hats, thick clothes. See if you can find some free long bones."

He moaned. "Why. Can't we just get out of here?"

I shook my head. "Sharp drop. I don't know the way out. We need to be ready in case we meet him. We need a spear as well."

"This is so disgusting. Ew ew ew." He said, as he reached in the bloody pile of bodies. He searched a while, and found a cap, a thick jacket, soaked with blood, and an old leg of some big teen or young adult. I directed him in securing the cold iron to the end, making a makeshift short spear with the femur of some other unlucky victim.

Was it bad to destroy the corpse of a random child who Pennywise had murdered? Yes. But we really didn't have a lot of resources down here. It was a dank cave. I couldn't make up some chemical bomb, I couldn't make a lot because-oh. Yes. Jackpot.

"Grab that red thing! The etch a sketch. And that broken down matchbox car."

"Why?" He asked, going to grab them.

"We are lucky. The clown has a 27 year cycle. This was just released in 1960." I was pretty sure I was in the film version of IT, which happened in 1988 from the film references. The book was a lot darker and more weird since it was written by a druggie with a very creepy imagination and an excellent grasp of prose, and the film was more child safe. Ish. "It has aluminum powder in it. Mix that with rust, from the matchbox car and you can make thermite, a chemical that burns evil clowns."

It was more work to get a fire going, and make a sling, but we had a mountain of corpses and toys to work with. We managed.

Bone can serve as a replacement for wood in starting a friction fire, interesting fact!

He had a sling of thermite, bone and cloth and leather, his two weapons, a crude belt to hold his equipment, and was adorned with the toys and body parts of his slain fellow children.

We were ready.

"When I am out remind me of two things. Peter, and Summer. As much as you can. Annoy the heck of of me."

We were about to head out to find a way out when we heard the sound of loud shoes walking slowly towards us. The dim light from high above faded, till all we had left was the dim fire we had started besides us.

"I'm scared." He said.

"I am with you. I have saved others. I will save you. Trust in me." I said.

"How do you stop being scared?" He said, his hand shaking, a little thermite falling out.

"The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown. We know him. You know what he is. He can't stand against our knowledge. I am with you. You know what he is. Every film you've seen has prepared you for this. You need to be Ripley. Slay the beast."

His hand shook a bit less. "I never saw Aliens you know. I want to see it." That was really child inappropriate, but so was being eaten by a sewer clown.

"I promise I'll help you see it if we get out." He gripped his cold iron spear tightly in one hand, his sling in the other.

"I got you...you son of a bitch." He said.

Pennywise stepped forwards. He was barely visible, but his eyed glowed a sinister orange, illuminating a little of his face. His red lipstick was stained with blood- he had fed. He looked pissed, and was flexing his hand, a torn off arm held in it, like a club.

I spoke. "Remember, don't fire till you see their whites of their eyes."

Pennywise swayed his hand. I felt the pressure build up on my mind, and pulled back, inside the boy. Behind his trust, imagination, inappropriate watching of gorey films, and fierce spirit and love his brother. I had no trust that my gamer shield would protect me on it's own, but maybe the boy could.

"I'm not afraid of you, Sewer Clown!" He shouted.

Pennywise slowly walked forward. "You should be." He laughed, a horrible creepy laugh."I'm going to eat you. Suck the marrow from your bones. I'll rip your eyes out, so you can never see anything again." He said, getting closer.

And he stepped on another of the toy cars.

Belief held a major role in these fights. Pennywise was immensely power, but stuck in narratives. Maybe with his shapeshifting power he could have avoided this- but this boy believed intensely that he would slip on the toys, so slip he did. A bit. He quickly recovered, but before he could do more, Georgie dipped the sling in the fire, and slammed it into Pennywise's eyes.

Pennywise screeched as the flame burnt him. His makeup crackled and popped as the intense heat of the aluminum reacting with the iron oxide burnt him.

Going forward, Georgie screamed, and charged him, ramming the cold iron steel into him. He screeched and screamed as he was forced back to the wall.

I pushed forward again. "Syringe, now!" Georgie nodded, and stabbed the syringe into IT's chest.

And nothing happened. No glue filled it. No energy rush. I could feel my power but this wasn't working why wasn't it working-

Oh. Vampires didn't use needles, and IT was only vulnerable to childlike belief.

I pushed forward more. Using the gamer's mind, I managed to shove Georgie back.

"Trust me. Vampire matters." I said. He didn't resist. "Go get him!" He shouted, as he went back out of control.

I grabbed the knife, and rammed it into Pennywise's chest. A light ripped out of it, along with a black oozing blood.

I felt my gamer's mind start to shatter under the deadlight, the pressure unbearable as the full weight of the macroverse slammed into me. I saw the world be birthed, and destroyed, saw the tiny nature of myself, a fly before the power above me. Even all that, barely anything before the weight of the Dark Tower that floated above all. I even saw a notification about my gamer's mind being about to collapse again. I forced myself forward, and bit and drank the foul black blood, and sucked and sucked and drained him, as vampires are supposed to. I immersed myself in Pennywise's body, draining him.

And I felt it. My power.

I sucked and ripped and bit into Pennywise, eating flesh and foul fluids. I immersed myself in the light, letting it consume me, tear me apart as I tore into it. And I felt the yellow light flood back into me as I vamped up my powers, empowered me to fight back, even as my soul burnt in the light.

**Interface reactivated. Gamer powers resumed. ****Level up from defeating Pennywise.**

Now I would show Pennywise who he was fighting with.

**Errors detected. System cascade imminent. Crashing in 12 seconds.**

A survivor. "Ruuuun!" I shouted.

* * *

Totally all part of the plan. Advancing in the rear direction. In the next chapter, see Macgyver vs Sewer Clown p2.

Arkyong. There are many gamer over moments.

Thorison1080. IT is an eldritch cthulhu esque power. He recognized that someone else was poisoning his meat, and stripped the poison away, aka the gamer powers, so he could have a delicious fear filled snack.

Dikr1229. I'll check it out then, thanks. Does sound fun, cat and mouse with an alien. And, in RE7 his mind got broken, he was unable to handle any really complex stressful situations well, but he had zombie regeneration so physical stuff wasn't an issue. If he got in a physical death loop he wouldn't be able to move. And nah. Pennywise likes to marinate his victims in fear, and is pretty arrogant, so he stuck them in a fear trance to erase the adult fear.

Toobad69. We'll see, once Pennywise stops jobbing because he thought he was facing a small child. Pennywise is pretty arrogant, he normally doesn't try that hard.

Acespeedninja. Yeah. He isn't in a good state. He's wounded Pennywise, but he still doesn't have fully functional powers.

Crimsonsylvan. He doesn't know what Heller would be like and might just get eaten, and yeah prototypes could defeat most survival and normal horror. They're probably demigod scale like pennywise, but in raw physical stats.

Watermelonninja. Stephen King loved the Cthulhu mythos. IT was an eldritch horror. Read the book. It's worth it.

JakeWJElliot2. Yep, he is very powerful in his own way. One of the themes of the story is that he's always reliant on the environment, but he is getting better and better at that. And yeah, he's working towards big power ups. Just needs a lot more grinding. And the system, being very helpful, obliges- he can grind against Pennywise! Zombie stories would be fun yeah. He can poke at some of the silly decisions.

Anon. yep. Round one vs the clown was a win, but r 2 will be harder.

IncognitoMinerals. Nah, he did, but he underestimated the speed of him. Got sucker punched. And he didn't predict he wouldn't be able to use his hidden weapons, free from fear because he's a catch phrase spitting asshole who fears nothing and could hurt IT.

Soda-fiedPsycho. More taunt perks do sound fun. Nothing too op, but I do like the idea of more ways to insult cosmic horrors.

Jschulter. This whole story is about unpleasant people trying to take away his agency. He woke up with his foot chained to a pipe with no equipment, powers, or items. It tends to end poorly for them. He woke up in a cave, filled not with scraps of advanced weapons, but with child bones and toys, and built a flamethrower, a spear, and a faith empowered child. He always finds a way.

Next time, we can see how far he can get in 12 seconds. See you then.


	27. Clap your hands if you believe

I had bigged up the kid a lot in our talks. I had told him he was my knight, my soldier, he had asked what ranked, I had said sergeant, he asked why not captain, I told him sergeants were way better because they understood what was really up. He asked me if I loved the smell of napalm in the morning, and I again wondered who was letting him see all these really age inappropriate films.

I said yes of course, because napalm smells great. Like fuel oil, gasoline, and detergent, mixed with the burning flesh of my enemies.

I had told him the crude, old, tatty jacket we had looted from some poor victim was his body armor, his flak jacket. I think that's what saved us.

I activated clear thinking, giving myself a minute of thinking time, and scanned my stats.

I had 26 stamina. Enough for two and a bit seconds of boosted physical stats with ninja body. I had drug fueled strength and 18 strength. With my rather small frame that was a lot of strength. Boosted up 50% it was 27, which was pretty far along human limits. I had three quests, each for 25 perk points. Survive Pennywise, save my brother, defeat Pennywise once and for all. It'd work.

I shot away from Pennywise, his head burning and stinking, my face sticky with his blood. I felt unsteady inside, rocked by what I saw, but with my pulse pouncing I could ignore that for now. I called up my minimap, and quickly worked out how to get to the well house, the closet exit. I ran. I ran really fast, probably faster than any runner on earth. At least for a bit.

I stepped over a rock, and tumbled over.

Dex check 16/15 succeeded.

I reached my hands out, and though they burned, turned the fall into a flip, landing on my feet. As I did so, a bright light rushed out from behind me, blue, zooming through the air. It hit the roof above my head, and instantly shifted into a massive form. It's head still burnt, as the thermite ripped through it, so I could see. Boney skin, a long tail, a long head like a fish. A tongue sticking out, with a mouth on it.

Alien. The acid dripped down from it onto me. That acid could rip through ships. It could have ripped through me. But Georgie believed in his armour. Believed that he could survive this, trusted me. His jacket burnt and sizzled. I twisted it off, letting the acid melt it and the cave floor and darted away. Pennywise darted at me, and I twisted to the side as he slammed where I had been, shaking the tunnel with his weight.

I got a look at him. **Pennywise. 156?1/2000? Hasiajx error failure.**

Then my interface bugged out. I rammed my spear at him. I had many nightmares about Alien when I had first seen it. I had just been three. But, years of them, lots of bad movies, alien vs predator, and online roleplays inside such things had ended my fear. Georgie had some fear, but not much.

The cold iron spear sliced into the bones. Inside his chest the cold iron melted- but I had no time for that. With a quick burst of chakra speed, taking me down to 11 stamina, I dashed off, snapping the end of the spear away.

I was at the bottom of the well. I needed to get to the top. I didn't know parkour, and there was an angry alien after me.

Easy. I had planned for this. I took my now cold ironless bone fragment, with a little chunk of cold iron fixed at the end where I had snapped it off, hooked my long belt, made of a lot of items of clothing carefully tied together for just this reason, hooked it into the metal hook I had stolen from some old toy at the end, hopped out of the rope, activated drug fueled strength and the +10 strength bringing me up to 33 strength, and hurled it up near the edge.

It rammed into the weakened concrete and stone, affixing, my very crude grappling hook a success. My druggie strength included some secondary, boosted durability powers for items. It was great. Grabbing the end of the rope I started to run up the well.

6 seconds left.

A moment later, I heard a smashing sound. Bleeding acidic blood, face still burning, Alienwise (my nickname) charged at me, running up the well like I ran along walls. I swung, avoiding a swing of their razor sharp tail that would have decapitated me, and ran around the wall, getting around them. I swung my foot, still boosted from the strength perk, and kicked Alienwise in the head, knocking them off their grip. They fell down with a thud as I ran up.

I was out of it. 5 seconds left. I could-

Pennywise was standing there at the top, grinning, more visible in the light, head still burning, chest still bleeding, his orange hair scorched, his makeup bubbling in the heat. Oh yeah. He can teleport. He grabbed me by the neck and slammed me down on the ground, hard enough to make my brain rattle. I tried to punch him, but he grabbed my arm and overpowered me with brute strength, easily overcoming me, even when I added my chakra. My stamina ran out.

I slipped a hand out, and I drew an uzi out of my inventory. I pressed it to him and opened fire, sending a thud thud thud of bullets ripping through his chest, loud enough to burn my ears. He laughed and laughed as the blood dripped out of him onto my chest.

Two seconds left. I didn't have anything left in the tank I- I dropped one more point into wisdom, and activated enlightenment.

**Gamer interface, hard shut down. **

I felt the power rush out of me. My enhanced strength, my skills, everything. It was like a sore muscle, overworked. It needed time to heal. Perhaps in time I could summon it, but not any time soon unless... I was spent.

But I still had an idea.

"Sewer clown." I said. "Why are you out of the sewer?" Pennywise leaned down, and licked my face, tasting his blood, clearing my eye. I looked up at him.

He looked horrific. Burning, melted, but grinning ever brighter as he leaned over me.

"I sense a bit of it. A spark. You're not sure you're gonna win. You hope but… that fear is delicious." He said.

He flicked his tongue about, as though he was testing a delicacy, trying to identify where it was from.

"That old world? Well. Maybe while you're gone I'll visit there. Find your momma, and pappa, and just eat them up. If you do ever get home, they won't be there."

I felt a flood of hate, and just a little bit of fear, as he held me down, easily overcoming my now, just the strength of a child. I needed to stay cool though. Stay cool.

"But my house isn't near a sewer. What happened to the rest of the circus anyway?"

He leaned in. "Blown right away. A storm blew the whole circus away, and me. And it will blow me right to your home" And he stuck his tongue out into my eyeball. I felt a sharp stabbing pain in my eye. I screamed and shook and I held the pain on me. My mind was burning, but I could shield Georgie from this. I took it all on myself, all the pain. I buried myself in it. I felt myself loosing control.

I was so tired. That deadlight, that light. I felt so small. Cold.

I was out. My eye so bad. I wanted to scratch it. I couldn't see anything.

Then Georgie came back into the seat. I felt Pennywise lick Georgie's other eye, and I could see again. Pennywise could kill my family. I was powerless to stop it. It hurt…

"You lied! You're not a real clown. You're a fairy. Fairies can't lie."

Pennywise looked surprised for a second. "I'm not a fairy. I am..."

Georgie spoke, more enthusiastic now. "Yes you are. You're a shapeshifting ancient horror who uses a friend form to lure people in, feeds off emotions, is wounded by cold iron. You're a fairy! And you lied. You can't lie."

"I..." He said. And Pennywise gulped. Then he flopped down, and vomited black blood onto the floor, again and again.

I mentally cheered, as my eye burnt. He had figured it out. Fairies can't lie! And he thought Pennywise was a fairy. The weight of Pennywise on us was heavy. Georgie struggled and struggled, but he couldn't lift him.

"Peter. Peter. I need you. I can't do it." He said. "I'm trapped. He ate my eye. I can feel you. I need you." He said, panting.

There was a phrase. Running on fumes. I wasn't running on fumes. I was running on empty. My world was a burning mess of pain as I subsumed myself in the pain of my ripped out eye so Georgie could function, and my gamer power muscle was really badly torn. Maybe there was a drip or two of oil left, but restarting my power was gonna do major damage to it, just as forcing a car to start with no fuel would damage it.

But, him eating me would also damage me.

"This is for lying, fairy scum!"

**Gamer interface… collapsing.**

I bought the upgraded gacha perk and summoned a common cold iron nail. Then, grasping it in my fist, I power struck up into the deadlights. My fist rammed into Pennywise's gut, slamming up into the hole I had ripped through him into the deadlights. I felt a wet burning sensation on my hand. He slammed off me, ramming into the ceiling, and collapsed down, very broken.

**Critical hit! 3!0? damage done. Breakdown. Immin-**

The burning got more intense. As Georgie got up, I did not fade into darkness, but faded into agonized burning pain, every inch of my soul tortured and flayed.

I forced out two last words.

"Blue… pill." Cocaine.

And then four more. "Fuck you… sewer clown."

* * *

Round two. Pennywise eyes victory, but lies drag him down. Next chapter he'll be off to go far away for a while. Any suggestions for cool Stephen King things he can loot are appreciated.

Pennywise has a really OP power list. Teleportation, mind control, super strength, super durability, lots of stuff. He's a scary dude. But so is my fist.

Dragonbornthesam. He could get something like it, but higher rank abilities can break lower ranked abilities. Poison maniac does something similar with poison, giving him higher than average resistance above gamer's body.

Mistersnx. Thanks, he tries.

JakewJElliot. I was thinking of having him speed run a few different worlds sometime. That could be a fun one for that. And yeah, I try to do new horrors. He

IncognitoMinerals. I hope you enjoyed it.

Thorison1080. Sorta? Gamer interface overrides them sorta, but it's not working very well now, so he has a chance to get his old memories and skills back.

Crimsonsylvan. Prototypes have psychic powers as well, so they'd be pretty resistant to fear effects and dream stuff. They can talk to each other and resist talking and do lots of mind fuckery. Prototype zombies are mega op. And yeah, if he became a full prototype he could rip through every Saw movie easily. Someone who can bench press tanks isn't scared by a trap.

Arkyong. Clown is punched now, I hope you are happy.

Soda-fiedPsycho. Jigsaw would probably win against Pennywise, because he's psychologically very tough and physically better at combat than him, and he's very observant so he'd spot weaknesses. That said, as shown, Pennywise is a powerful dude. He can regen, shapeshift, teleport, do lots of stuff. Palpatine would definitely crush him though. That dude is strong. And, sadly he does not have a katana perk.

Watermelonninja. That's just responsible parenting. How can your kid be safe without extreme firepower?

Toobad69. Yeah, it's good to go back to roots. There was some of his greater powers here, with some extreme bursts of speed, but in the end it was childhood naivety and belief that crushed Pennywise. And a fist.

Sillythoughts. Many fun universes, and I think most are on the lists. Gremlins is also a possibility, but probably for speedrun time. And thanks for cool story things, I'll check them out.

Come back next time as the next phase in his plan to exploit the Stephen King multiverse begins.


	28. A grizzly encounter

Have you ever been in a situation where you just felt "I hate this, I wish I could turn back time and do it again?" I often have. I could have done so much better if I could just go back and plan for it, prepare for it.

Now, short of time magic, which wasn't an available skill for me, there was one way to do this. A lot of planning. If you thought up in advance what you should do for every situation and prepared for it, you wouldn't be in danger.

For example, back on earth prime, I live in a flood risk zone. Area gets fucked up often enough and power lines can die, access can die. So of course, I have power packs, batteries. I am a prepper, so I have several freezers of food, survival supplies, and a secret place nearby in the woods where I can run if my neighbors turn into blood thirsty zombies and try to eat me.

I know you, Karen. You would totally try to eat my brains.

I have plans for all the likely dangerous possibilities. When I enter a new place I scout out the exits, try to work out where is safe to go, where is unsafe.

When I fuck up, I work out how to not fuck up in the future.

After Saw 1, I had a more solid grinding plan. It had worked. I was much stronger in preparation for Saw 2. After Resident Evil I had decided to rely more heavily on teamwork, and I had tried it here.

But one of my team mates was Amanda, and another was Obi, and another was Gus. I had such a focused vision on them, I ignored the signs, the reputation losses. I had let myself be poisoned again. I hadn't worked out in time. I had to burn one of my impossibly valuable healing potions to survive. I had grinded well there, and got a host of skills and powers from it. I opened my stat window.

**Name: Macgyver**

**Job: Gamer**

**Level: 1 (0/100)**

**Title. Macgyver**

**HP: ?**

**Stamina: ?**

**Strength: 12**

**Constitution: 3**

**Dexterity: 3**

**Intelligence: 7**

**Wisdom: 12**

**Luck: 0**

**1000 perk points available.**

**2 stat point available.**

**Skills**

**First aid level 8 30/100 exp**

**Survival, advanced apprentice grade, covers observation, crafting, and scavenging. Level 13 4/100 exp**

**Baseball, level 9 10/100 exp**

**Stealth, level 30 0/100 exp**

**Computers, level 45 34/100 exp**

**Disease control, advanced apprentice grade, level 27 76/100 exp**

**Diplomacy, level 89, 93/100 exp**

**Shooting. Level 64, 67/100 exp**

**Poison Resistance. Level 9, 75/100 exp**

**Unarmed combat. Level 4, 25/100 exp**

**Animal handling, level 10, 95/100 exp**

**Earth control, level 11, 55/100 exp**

I had dumped quite a few points into my group of allies back in Sawland. I hoped it would pay off. I wasn't going to go into Saw 3 alone, not with Amanda's fuckery. But still, I had a 1000 free, and solid stats. I needed stronger stats though. I hadn't ranked any of my stats other than disease control and survival to rank two, and I wanted more sweet perks and buffs. I needed more stats- at 10 I was pretty sure, I got access to new perks and skills.

I needed some actual combat skills I could use as well. So, I needed some solid time to grind.

Above that though, I needed to grind my exotic magic skills. I needed an edge above what had happened before. Jigsaw was gonna be ready for me, and I could expect some fuckery. I needed to be stronger, in a way that Jigsaw couldn't predict. I needed my A game for Saw 3. It was a big one.

I went over to my new kitchen. There was a lovely new fridge, stolen from the nerve gas house, thank you for trauma. It was painted white. I went in, and found… ooh, tinned of baked beans. I opened it, and in honour of Rorschach, flipped off the lid and ate it cold. It was nice to be able to eat food not a decade old.

Cure was hungry for my food, and making sounds at my feet. I patted his adorable head, knelt down on my void floor and nuzzled him.

"Good boy. Don't worry. I'll make sure you're well fed." He was a bit unsure and hesitant walking on the black void of the abyss below us, so he definitely needed some re-assurance. I found some dog food, and sat down with him, feeding him spoon fulls of food with my fingers, testing my agility to dodge hungry lips.

"So, Cure, my better fed and beautiful brown doggie, I made some mistakes. I tried to make friends, but with toxic people. Toxic people always betray you. This isn't an anime where you save everyone with true friendship and love and hope. This is Saw."

He looked up at me, not really caring or understanding me, but hungry for meat.

He had 3 int now, after nomming on Amanda. He might be able to understand language. But for now, hunger dominated.

"I need to learn to not trust bad people, and plan ahead around everyone I meet. Yes I do, yes I do." I said, as I rubbed his neck.

And there was something else… I blinked and tried to remember it, but I couldn't pull it to mind. Even after I had dumped the extra points in int. Annoying.

Oh, new title. Macgyver. I focused on it.

**Jigsaw. John Kramer and Amanda know you now! You have been dubbed Macgyver, after the mechanical genius who escaped many a trap. Any reputation gains with John or his apprentices are doubled, and you can construct devices 100% faster. **

That would be appreciated. And I could sense with my wisdom- I got a passive, emotional, intuitive sense of titles- that this would also make it easier for me to do complex tasks.

Well, I had things to work out. And I had Saw 2 to watch, back at my couch, along with Resident Evil 7 to play. It was time for me to think through Saw 3.

I got up, and patted Cure's side. "Ready to watch some torture porn with me?"

Cure barked, which I interpreted as yes.

* * *

I had really gotten RE7 wrong. Eve was the villain? But she seemed so nice. Maybe it wasn't the best of ideas having her infect Amanda. Oh well. Yolo.

Like, I definitely wasn't sure that mind control was gonna work. Basically everyone in RE went crazy. But, it would be a valuable experiment, and good for the future. I definitely was not experimenting myself with those spores till we knew more. I had given some to Gordon to play with, and I had given them a contact number for Amanda to give them info.

I hoped it worked. If not, well, turning into a zombie monster was real sad for her, but I would get over it.

I ate another hand of popcorn, and rubbed Cure's ears. He seemed a lot calmer, now we were away from other people.

I glanced at my skills. Nope, no animal control from this. I was pretty sure I couldn't grind in here.

I needed to grind hard for Saw 3. There was a real risk. I could get caught in a death spiral. Eternally living and dying with no hope of survival.

I had two choices for that. I could go to IT. There, the foe was a weird creepy clown, and I could pretty easily avoid him and go off and grind and power up.

Or, Alien. There I would face challenges, but I could loot cool tech, learn from cool people, and violently handle most things there.

I was leaning towards IT. A bunch of eager kids had killed that clown. I was pretty sure I could handle it. Big risk of getting into a death spiral if I spawned into the cat in Alien or something.

IT it was. Pennywise, here I come.

I dropped a cool 606 points into fully leveling up my gamer's mind. Against Pennywise, I needed every edge. Another 6 went into the backup chest, so I could swap things in and out. I grabbed a holdaway compartment for my special Pennywise surprise, and became a stealthy predator so I could dodge him better. 640 down.

Picture perfect and video perfect- I felt tension on the video perfect. I was pretty sure this one was dependent on my host body. If I had 11 int, I could use it. If not, I needed more. 649. Packrat and Packhorse. 658.

Desperate struggle, enlightened mind, clear thinking, minimap, drug fueled strength, break it down. 723.

Gamer's body was a must. 823. Ninja body, because I wanted to branch out my skills, and earth mastery so I could grind that out. 973. Let's add in local expert, and I have exactly 2 points left for final death.

Still a no on that. I could fight, I could experiment, and he wouldn't break my mind.

Into IT I went.

This time the journey was different. I stepped through the portal and saw- a field of roses, as bright as suns. They glowed around my feet. High above me, piercing the clouds, I could see it rise. It felt vaster than me. It's atoms, larger than my body, all consuming. Twelve forces pierced the tower from below. Massive, with monsters on each of them, they held it above all, supporting it against the dragging force holding it down.

And I was down in a body. I was wet. I was wearing yellow. I was looking down a sewer.

Eyes, glowing, flashed in front of me. I saw thick red lips, and a thick nose, white cloth around it's neck.

"Hi there Georgie! What a nice boy. Do you want it back."

Oh fuck. This was not a good place.

"No, keep it pedo clown. I don't take gifts from sewer clowns" I got up to head away. I saw a look of panic on his face, then understanding.

His hand lunged out, and grabbed my foot.

**Demigod level entity encounter. Complete gamer failure imminent. Good luck.**

I felt a stabbing, tearing pain, like my skin being ripped off, my soul burnt bare. I felt the strength tear out of me. Every bit of knowledge, every skill, every power I had as the gamer torn out of me. I looked back. He had it in his hand- a yellow ball of fluid, twisting and turning, trying to escape.

He pulled it to his mouth, and bit into it.

"You came to the wrong part of town, Macgyver." He said, with a giggle.

And I heard Georgie's voice screaming in my mind, in my head, as I lost control of my body. Georgie was back in the captain's chair.

Well, fuck.

* * *

Time to see how he handles not having gamer powers as a crutch and having control of the body he is in as a crutch.

Alien Isolation is top now. I've not played it. I can definitely see it as a solid place to go. I think I am leaning towards IT as his next world, but I could definitely be persuaded to run it next. I haven't played it yet, but since I am under quarantine, I definitely could. Why do people like it so much?

Thorison1080. I guess you shall have to read and find out. Also yes.

Arkyong. The MC got abducted before corona virus was a thing, so he can't make any jokes about it. Stuff around the topic is gonna bubble up, since I am a prepper and corona virus is all around.

Tetsujinvinalay. Creepy clowns coming up tomorrow.

Gatling2745. Thanks for all the perks and world ideas. I'll add them to the list for next time. So many worlds. Maybe I'll have him speed run several sometime. And no, elder gods can break max level gamer's mind, though it could resist at the edges for a while. Grandmaster isn't the final rank. I have a bunch of ranks planned beyond it, like transcendental, demigod, god, elder god, primordial. He can sorta manage with max ranks against transcendental and demigod, but beyond that it would just snap unless he buffed it somehow. Not that he would be stopped by that. He tried to kill a grandmaster at level 1. Get the right leverage and gods can die.

DG2. He is a total hypocrite. He doesn't follow his own rules and is really inconsistent. People make a lot out of the philosophy of a suicidal dude with brain cancer.

Crimsonsylvan. He would happily go to Minecraft, just he only gets options for horror movies and games. There are lots of places he would love to go to grind. And, he probably isn't genetically unique like Mercer. He would have to convince Mercer to upgrade him. But yeah, once he does that, serious gameshift, no more survival horror. That said, I more meant, he would probably die quickly and repeatedly, since the limits to his combat skills are being ok at shooting and basic at baseball, and he wouldn't have any easy way to ramp up. Plus, he probably wouldn't have unique DNA and wouldn't be great to evolve. He's not that lucky.

Soda-fied psycho. Totally the best perk ever. He needs to step up his jerkass game. Piss off everyone.

Incognitominerals. Some fuckery is definitely going on with Summer. And yeah, around Saw 3, much will be revealed.

See next time Jigsaw vs Macgyver with no body, skills, and in the hands of a psychotic clown who likes balloons.


	29. Research and Development

Oww oww.

He had gotten asleep a bit after that. Kid was afraid of bears. I got to work fixing things up. No sleep for me. No relief.

Pennywise was an eldritch horror. He had ripped my power apart into fragments, and when I ripped into him to restore my power, aspects of him were embedded inside me. Like sand on bare skin, they rubbed me raw whenever I tried to use my gamer powers.

Could he track me? Look through my eyes? I had hid in the woods because I hoped that would make it harder, but he'd sent a black bear after me. Not a good situation.

You know Rick and Morty? I know it of course, but talking to myself helps with not going insane. There's an episode where Summer gets a job at a shop called Needful Things, and it turns out the Devil is the owner. Rick comes in and fixes all his devices. Rick goes to Pluto and says that it's not a planet. There's a whole load of things going on.

Anyway, that was based off a Stephen King novel called Needful Things. A magical devil called Gaunt has a shop with useful stuff and magical stuff in it, and destroys towns with it. After things are finished they move town somewhere else and destroy it too. The message was probably that people went to obsessive lengths to obtain their addictions, something Stephen King could appreciate given his own addictions. The message according to him had been that reaganite greed was bad. The book hadn't sold great. I was hoping I could find it, kill Gaunt, and loot his stuff. Milk run mission.

They had a magical item that cured arthritis. I was really looking forward to that. Were they cursed? Maybe. But regardless, magical items were cool. They were also the edge I needed in Saw 3. I had the protective coins, but I needed something with a bit more magical mojo to give me a real edge.

Onwards with Gamer mind and body healing. Seeing the abilities in isolation was really giving me a much more solid picture of how they worked. I could focus the healing effect in area better. I had fully healed his eye, stopping the pain there, and was now working with dulling the head pain. More than that, I could see in my own inner void the machinery. I could see the shields they offered, the way that they could extend to repair and replace parts of other powers. My powers were some biotech weirdness, and I was ready to exploit it.

Pennywise and his fragments in my head fought me every step of the day. I really needed a solution. Whenever I would fix a machine in my mind that powered a skill they would lurch forward and burn and destroy it once more.

Early the next day, after a few hours of sleep, I used the minimap to walk back to town, past the old american buildings. The night air felt so raw on my skin. It was a purifying distraction from the pain. Georgie complained and bitched, but I needed less sleep now. Early, before the library opened, we sneaked in.

The security was shit. I picked the lock in a minute. In I went, to the treasure trove. I first went and picked up some books. History of the town, some native american books which had the ritual of chud (an unsuccessful clown killing ritual) what I could find on magic. Sorry library, but I had to steal. Then I broke in deeper. **Survivor** made me pretty good at dismantling locks.

This library, as a research institute, had a networked computer! I had thought I would have to do a lot of work to find the shop. The USA, unlike the much wiser and more intelligently organized UK, had a lot of different yellow phone book operators and different state by state records, rather than following the wisdom of having a centralized government which could organize it all, and which didn't throw tea in harbors.

That poor tea.

My eyes were blurry, and my head pounding, but I was ready to do research. I had earned 30 perk points from my levels up, plus 25 from my escape of Pennywise. A nice haul. Working very slowly and carefully, since I needed to activate my interface and my perk point system, I bought **IT specialist.** Megatron v2 would have to wait, for now I needed searching power.

The internet of that day was pretty weak. This was before mp3s had been released, long before the internet was much use. Still, there were news groups, exchanges, networks and subnetworks to navigate, all at the snail's pace speed. Text was necessary, because pictures were too big.

I spent hours and hours, hidden in the library's research computer. I read through research papers, silly news, recipes, ideas, political and religious debates of the 80s, jokes, stories, everything the many people on the internet had done. I cracked through some of the weak barriers in place, searching further and further for some hint of where to go. My new skill, along with my intellect and my gamer's mind, all three powers up, let me go through it fast.

And just a bit before dawn, I found the needle in the haystack. A little report from Illinois of a store, Everything You Need. An astronomer was nearby. They had complained about people fucking with their telescopes, and asked for advice fixing it as well, and more searching generally revealed a picture of a town going to shit.

"We got what we need. It's time to phone my brother." Said Georgie confidently.

"I am pretty sure he's spying on us. He'll know who your brother is if we call him."

The kid was an idiot and- rah. Blah. No. I hadn't slept in a long time, and I was in constant pain, but I wasn't gonna take it out on a child. I still needed him.

My survivor tingly senses agreed though. He hadn't mentioned Georgie's brother a lot, and Georgie didn't seem to have many fears around his brother. He trusted him a lot. He knew he could be moody, and didn't like it, but he was never afraid his brother would leave him. They sort of knew ish what Pennywise was, and didn't think he knew everything.

"You don't know that!" Georgie replied, flushed with emotion. "He could already be coming for him."

"I have a plan for that, when it's morning. We pay some homeless dude to call us every couple of hours, about a bunch of families."

"I need to see him now! To talk to them!" He said. And he seized control, and walked off.

I tried to speak, to stop him, but his will was iron, and he was going. We marched past piles of books, pictures, a printer, to the desk.

"Be sure when you do this. It could be everyone's death."

Georgie rested his hand over the phone, tears in his eye.

"I miss my brother. I want to talk to him."

"I know." I replied. "I miss my family as well."

He paused. "He said he'd go after them. Aren't you worried about them? Scared?"

I nodded. "I am. I am really worried, because I love them and want the best for them."

"So why don't you do something!"

"This is what I am doing. Preparing. Slow and steady wins the race."

He unclenched his fists, putting down the phone. "I miss him."

As we spoke, we heard a sound. Behind us was an easter egg.

"We probably shouldn't chase down the random easter egg." He said.

I shook my head. "You sure? We could go down to the basement following the easter egg, and maybe the corpse of a previous victim would appear and chase us down, but really it's a spooky sewer clown?" This had happened in the movies.

He shook his head. "Nah. I'm good."

Wise kid.

* * *

Secrets are gathered, information is revealed, and a quest shall be begun!

Next chapter, Needful Things vs Macgyver.

Sanas22. He's very close to regaining his powers, and will get some cool rewards then.

Arkyong. Soon the arc will be over, and we will be back to non creepy flesh mutilation in Saw.

Thorison1080. His gamer system is bust so he's trying to get an alt magical fix. A creepy clown is stalking him.

Dr Cookie Deleter. His stand is truly mighty, and needs to get flashier clothes to keep up.

Toobad69. Next chapter, we will see what he tries to do.

Watermelonninja. His stats are pretty heavy. He could baby parkour around even as an infant in a zombie apocalypse.

Moche. Thanks.

Artekha. He did indeed get to another world!


	30. The fruits of deception

"300 dollars, and not a dollar less." I said, in my big person form, my hand stroking Cure's pretty neck, the stomach stored gold in my hands.

The man, greasy dreadlocks flowing over his head, tattoos across his arm, leaned over the counter of knick knacks and odd things in his pawn shop and sighed, put his hands out as though going what am I meant to do, and took out the cash.

"You're screwing me, but I guess I can go that high. Fine. Oh wait- I don't have that much cash on me- I just have 200 dollars. But I have that now." He held it out to me, offering.

This was worth more like 600 dollars, accounting for inflation, according to a pro Addison had set me up with, even in pawn markets. He could sell it for quite a bit more. He was screwing me over, big time. But two could play at that game.

"That's fine, we could make it up in some store items. A mutual trade."

He grinned. "Sure, that seems fair. See anything you like?"

A lot of pawn shops, from my long experience, had an official price and a baseline price, generally 10% plus what they cost. These ones had that. Old tvs, guns, jewelry, all sorts of random junk that people had tossed away. And, guns. A lot of pawn shops had them. Yay america. You buy a gun for self defence, you fire it a few times for the thrill, toss it in a draw. Then a few years when times are tough, what do you pawn for a bit of extra cash…

Anyway, he had a code. In small letters below the price was a short code, uovdiImsce with the letters I was pretty sure none of my gamer powers would have been able to do it directly, but I loved puzzles and codes and tricks back home, and his code was pretty simple.

I had noticed that a lot of the more expensive items had either four letters, or started with a v, and a very few six letter combination items started with a v. So, v must be the start of the code. I was pretty sure based on the minimum letters being 3 letters for cheap looking items that it was a simple alphanumerical swap. After that I had worked my way among the items, and found that after v the next most common five character starting letter in that sort of price range was i.

I couldn't appraise jewelry well, so it was hard to go much beyond that, but it was pretty simple after that. uodImsce? musIc stood out in there, and that left the first word as video. videomusIc, 1234567890

This gun had a price label of 523 dollars on it. A ruger 22. It had the code vumsc written in tiny letters below that price. 176.80 dollars, as the base price he would sell it for.

"This gun looks a bit overpriced. Quite a bit wear and tear on it. How about this ruger 22 and that cash, and I walk out."

"That's 500 dollars!" He said, faking shock. Cure replied by walking behind my legs. "Perhaps we could do a trade of the gold for the gun though..." He said, a hint of greed on his voice.

He had pushed a bit too far. This was a valuable bit of gold. 176+200 was well below what he'd get for it.

I took the golden necklace, and shrugged. "Maybe I can find a better price for it elsewhere." I started to walk off.

Just as I was at the door, he held up his hand. "Wait! I guess, since it's you..."

I gestured at a case of .22 LR ammo, and a gun maintenance kit, and a bag. "Toss in those and you have a deal."

A little later, both of us feeling we had screwed the other over, dissembled in a bag, I had my gun and 100 bullets. My inventory was sadly inaccessible. Pennywise had locked that down hard, because, I sensed, something was trying to get out. Eve probably didn't like being eaten. I could feel that box of horrors shaking in my head, the black acid blood of pennywise slowly degrading it. It was a pity. I had 4 of my 7 remaining magic healing potions in there, along with more guns and stuff. And, a flesh eating zombie and a protagonist.

I had bought a few other odds and ends, and was ready for my trip. Not a moment too soon. Not enough for a car though. So, I was hitchhiking. I was hoping Pennywise's reach didn't stretch this far, and if not I could jump out. I just needed enough strength and equipment to get to Needful Things. Then the pain could end, and I could be better. I just needed to push a bit longer. I had a gun, I had some bomb making chemicals. I could do it.

"Why don't you just steal a car? You have mad mechanical skills." Asked Georgie.

"If the police reported it, I could get chased down soon after. I don't want to leave an obvious out for sewer clown to come after me. I doubt he can make everyone murderous."

"My mom said never to hitch hike."

"Did your mom have experience with sewer clowns?"

"Maybe she did!" He said. "I never asked her. When we get back I need to ask!"

I bought a few more items. Some supplies, some sugary food, some potassium nitrate for gardening. Normal stuff.

But regardless, I was sitting by the side of the road, in my little yellow raincoat, hoping for a lift. The road was a bit rough and weathered, clearly not well maintained, and I was sticking my thumb out and hoping for the best. Pennywise had never shown much influence outside of his town. Plus, I could escape from a moving car if I had to. It had worked well so far. I gave some sob story, me and cure and my bag of parts and food went on, and onwards the trip went. My scarce supply of cash stayed safe, and I had avoided too much notice.

Eventually, I got lucky. A black oldsmobile. License number, pdm42. I said my thing and got in.

Guy was nice. Heavyset man with greying hair. Looked trustworthy. I gave him a quick once over with Survivor, and it didn't set off any red flags.

"How did you get here? And your eye- what happened to it"

I looked sad "My parents dropped me off to wait for my aunt, but she never came. Trying to get home to Illinois. I lost my eye in a paintball accident. Could you help me sir?" I asked, doing my best to look pitiful, wet, and unhappy, which Georgie definitely was.

The man backed his bat seat. "I've got some plastic wrap back there. Lay that down for your dog, and you can come right on in."

George spoke in my mind. "He doesn't smell right."

"Corrupt democrat?" There were some political stickers on his car.

I set up some of the plastic wrap and patted the car. Cure growled at the man.

I looked back and forth between him and Cure. Cure grabbed my leg with his mouth, tugging me back. He had some weight, now I was six.

"Looks like your dog doesn't like me." He said.

The relationship system had been busted with the inventory. But… Cure seemed really angry. And Georgie could smell something off. Something was wrong. Last time, I had trusted the wrong person and been fucked over. This would be a lot easier with that system but…

I backed away. "Sorry. I'll find someone else..." I said, backing away with Cure, him growling by my side.

The man stepped forward, a slight frown touching his face, then a broad smile. "It's ok, you can trust me. I'm surprised you haven't heard of me. I'm the mayor of Illinois- I was just coming back from a trip." Something was eating away at me. I didn't quite know. A twisting of my stomach, and an awful sense of wrongness.

He stepped forward again. I looked backwards. Sharp drop behind me. Not a great place to flee. Maybe I could drug fueled strength get across. I could try and grab his car.

He smiled at me again, showing more teeth than lip. "I know just what can help. I can show you a magic trick." He reached into his pocket, looking for something. I was not liking this.

I had prepared something that might help. 3 parts potassium nitrate, 2 parts sugar, heat them, wrap them in aluminum foil, and then set it on fire and you have a smoke bomb. I had made sure to get matches this time as well.

I reached into my bag to grab it- and moving faster than I would have expected, he grabbed my arm, stopping me, and had handcuffed my arm. "Magic trick!" He said. And he started to drag me behind him into his car.

I pulled on drug fueled strength for a moment, along with my huge boosters, and tried to yank my arm away. It wouldn't budge. But I had the smoke bomb. I looked up, and saw a man in clown's makeup. Blue eyes, white skin, choppy red paint that looked like teeth. A red hat with a black circle on it. And a sinister look. Then the makeup flashed away. And he overpowered me. He laughed, and laughed.

I grabbed the smoke bomb, ripped off some of the foil, and tossed it into his eyes.

He coughed and spluttered at the dust in his eyes, no doubt taking some blindness debuff that would show up if the system was working, and tossed me in the car. I rolled to a painful stop.

Cure was standing back, not quite willing to engage this monster, growling and barking loudly.

"Pennywise promised quite a price for you." He said. "But after that maybe he doesn't need all of you. I'll give you the show of your life. I have my own makeup. I'll show you why clowns are always laughing."

I had an ace. I had Break It Down. I grabbed the seat of his car, braced myself, and activated Break It Down. The strain made my head hurt, but I managed to kick open the other side's door, cracking the lock. I rolled out, slamming on the concrete road. "Cure!" I called out, and I ran off, limping on my leg.

I wished I had my system back.

"I told you!" said Georgie. "I told you he smelt bad."

"I should have trusted you."

"I'm worried." Georgie said. "I… think I saw Pennywise."

I looked around. "Where? On him? We left him. He wasn't chasing us."

We were near some… bushes? I don't know plants. Green ones with leaves. Next to the road. A while away from the clown.

"Before that. In my house. I went to the basement. I felt something like that there. It was weird. I could feel his eyes on me, watching. Or someone's eyes. I think he can see us here." He said, speaking faster and faster.

"He'll be able to see my brother."

Before I had told a little fib to Georgie. Pennywise was definitely watching them early. You could see pictures of him in the art, see him in the basement when Georgie went down. Twice, with glowing eyes. Later you could see him in graffiti, in clowns, in lots of places. Pennywise spied on them a lot.

I suspected I knew why. The loser clubs were psychics, a common thing in the Stephen Kingverse and Pennywise liked nomming psychics. That's why they had been able to summon the divine turtle for help.

Oh yeah, that's why they won. They got a magic turtle to give them aid when they had the psychic fight with IT over their fears. The Aslan of this world.

Bill was a powerful psychic. He had sent power to his friends, made a deadbolt gun work when it shouldn't. His brother Georgie, well. He'd made Pennywise vulnerable to lies and fire and cold iron. Psychic might seemed to run in the family. So long as he believed-

"Believed in your lies"

Wait he could hear me monologue? He couldn't hear me monologue.

"Yes I can!"

I couldn't hear him monologue- oh. Yeah. Psychic. Bill had been able to see through illusions as well.

"He saw sewer clown too?"

"I err… how much did you hear?"

"All of it. And I'm not stupid. I knew you were playing me. I know fairies aren't real. But I trusted you had a reason. And it was all a lie?"

"And you didn't tell me?" I was still processing.

"It was helping. I get why you lied. Belief hurts the fairy. But I can't let it hurt my brother. We have to go back."

"You can sense my thoughts. You know I'm gonna go crazy if I have to endure this much longer. If I'm not there it might infect you."

"We're psychic right? Maybe we can resist it together." We don't need you.

Maaaybe. Ah, web of lies, you come back to bite me. Maybe the truth would help. I was completely fucked, as he knew from my thoughts, if they abandoned me. But I did want the best. Maybe I could try something.

"He's not gonna attack. Probably. I'm from another world where your world is a book. There, he kills you and toys with your friends. He has the todash darkness magic. The magical clown fails though because your friends have a magical bond and a magical turtle which protects them. They're safe so long as they trust the turtle."

Georgie was taking a while to absorb this.

"That said, if you start things early I don't know what will happen. Maybe the rails of canon keep him safe- or maybe success was unlikely, and they just got lucky there. For most of the film he didn't really try, and just fucked with them and let them go, but later on he got serious. He went after Bill in the flooded basement and if he'd been faster, he might have got him. Bill and Richie almost get killed after he separates them in the abandoned house and breaks their psychic connection, but they manage to overcome their fears enough there. After that he stops jobbing and goes full speed, making a crazy kid attack them. He might succeed this time. If we start it early-"

"What's the Todash darkness?"

"The space between worlds, filled with demons and monsters."

"God is real?"

"Not the Christian god, Christianity is false in this multiverse as far as I know. Gan is the supreme being."

"Who played me in the film?"

"I'm not actually sure, I'm not great with names. He was in Locke and Key I remember, but I never watched much of that, it wasn't very good." I was rambling.

"Would I know if… Bill was hurt. With my psychic powers?"

I nod. "I think so. He knew from the books. We have the phone calls from the hobo later, but you should sense if he's in major danger. Maybe you can even send some mental strength."

This would be a lot easier with system prompts for when my gamer's mind was being breached.

"I'll help you. But you have to be totally honest. Will you do that?"

"I will." Uh oh. I'm in danger. I just had to hold it together for a bit longer. I needed strength to face Jigsaw. To protect my family. To create a universe where everyone has what they need, level appropriate challenges, death is defeated, and I am god king. I would have to work with Georgie openly. I could do this.

"Yes you can."

Whelp.

* * *

This was meant to be the power restoring chapter but Georgie ran away from me and used his psychic powers.

Also, if anyone can guess which clown just attacked them (not from Stephen King) then, congrats.

Normally I do reviews, but I just rewatched IT to find out all the secret appearances of IT, and, and I am now seeing spooky eyes and Pennywises in the corner of my vision, so, I am off to bed before he gets me. Enjoyyy.


	31. A journey through town

I was in heaven. Agonizing, torturous heaven, 3 days short of sleep, but heaven nonetheless.

I'd turned into Purity, the small town where the shop had turned up after finding a non clown ride, with my gun, a smoke bomb, some bullets, a bit of food, and 192 dollars and 32 cents. I was used to building equipment with random scrap I found around. The random things lying around in a toilet. Whatever I could scavenge from an old abandoned house. A pile of bones, clothes, and old toys.

Now I had actual money. I could buy things! Things that weren't actual garbage I had just repurposed into an improvised spear. The A Team got locked in houses with enough stuff to build a car. I did not. And I had a demon to kill- I didn't intend to turn up to his shop with nothing. So, I would shop.

Purity was a fairly small town. They had Jesus saves on a sign at the entrance, which may have had a clown on it, didn't have many jobs around from the looks of it, and was pretty run down. In a few days or weeks, it was likely to implode and turn into a mass of death and violence thanks to Everything You Need. I was in a small, family run hardware store. I had a few wishlist items. A flamethrower. A big bomb. A grenade launcher. My survivor skills didn't really cover these that well- it could handle them a bit, but it was more used to reprocessing used goods than creating new explosives.

I am a fond creator of explosives, fireworks, and all things firey, and teaching had taught me a lot of new tricks to screw people over. I have built many bombs, before I got any fancy Gamer ability. I can handle it.

I looked over the available airguns. Kids toys, some which had painting that looked a lot like Pennywise, which may or may not be a sleeploss induced hallucination. But, if you put a cloth in front to act as a barrier, added some flammable liquid, tied a candle in front, makeshift flamethrower. I needed some power though, and these kids toys didn't have it. I was pretty sure I could tweak some of them. Maybe…

Several people walked in, the bell on the doorbell ringing. Three boys, two girls. Mid teens. Athletic, cheerful looking, tall. One of them, the leader from the looks of it, took a football- which had- not Pennywise art on it. Weird magic shit? Looked like some culty symbol on it. Octopus maybe? He was tall, blonde, very aryan, and pretty musclar. A jock. Not that I was bound to stereotypes. Some of my best friends were jocks.

"I heard your store is a football pitch." He said, speaking to the owner. An elderly, grey haired man,

"Don't you dare." Said the owner. The boy looked back to his friends, grinned and said "I'm pretty sure it's a pitch." Then he took the football, and kicked it at a glass display case next to the owner, filled with little tools. The glass smashed, sending them flying as the ball bounced to a shelf filled with power tools which smashed and broke as they fell down.

The owner stepped forward. "Why you-"

"Football!" Said the leader. And the group started running around, kicking things over.

This looked like a magic shop issue. If they had a magic item, I wanted it.

I gestured at Cure. "Stay here." He wasn't quite an attack dog. He'd defend me, but he preferred to hide behind my legs and eat meat strips. I picked up the biggest airgun, one with a suspicious paintjob, and raised it.

I advanced through the increasingly chaotic store. First there was a girl. Black haired, pale skin, a few tattoos on her arm. Was one of those a pair of eyes? She was trying to kick over a large paper stand in the store. I glanced her over. Not a threat. I fired two darts at her knee joints, aiming perfectly with my second major purchase, the perk, Gangbanger, which made me a gangstyle shooter. She cried out and fell to her knees, holding them in pain at the extremely dangerous child's toy. I felt eyes on my back. I glanced back, nothing.

Next was a pair of them, an aisle down. Boy and a girl. They were ripping out tubs of paint and tossing them to the ground, smashing them one by one. I repeated my feat, knocking one over with a pair of knee shots. The girl was left and actually decided to do a berserk charge at me, screaming, golden hair flying. I switched to strength perks, grabbed her, and choked her out to unconsciousness. Cut of the blood, focus goes bye bye. She smelt of fear and confusion.

I could kill people, but they were being driven mad by the store I assumed, and murder is bad.

Next was an Asian looking boy who was grabbing as many cans of chemicals as he could for some silly reason. Regardless of his future plans, he wasn't immune to a pair of shots to the knees, and fell over in agony and pain. Airguns were a menace. Why did kids have access to them?

I went to confront the leader. He was distracted, taunting the shop owner. I raised my gun, and then my vision swam. I felt dizzy. I couldn't focus. I was so tired. I raised the gun, seeing two of them. Both hims were looking at me.

"What the hell did you do to my friends?" He asked, hefting the football, bouncing it on his tall white shoes.

"I-" I couldn't focus.

The shopkeeper emerged, holding a shotgun. With a hard hit with the butt, he knocked the kid on the back of the head, smashing him down to the floor. The kid crashed down to the floor with a thud, red blood leaking.

And I blanked out. The pain got too much and I just couldn't focus. Every beat of my heart, my pulse raced. I needed those magic items. I needed healing. I couldn't think of any other accessible healing source in the Stephen King verse. But it hurt so bad. I could see everything. The world was so large. I could see a turtle, vaster the the universe, floating by, but it couldn't hear me. I was falling, falling into those glowing eyes.

There was no escape. I felt him crush me, rend me to nothing. I was hopeless before his power and then- I pulled myself back together.

Everything came back into focus.

"You're back!" Said Georgie, petting Cure, who was whining happily as Georgie scratched his chin. "You were out for ages.

I looked inside. The shards of Pennywise were getting worse. Each time I used my powers, they grinded against my brain, ripping me a bit more open.

"I had to talk him down out of executing the kids. I said I was on a quest to stop Everything You Need and he gave me everything for free! Said the owner had repeatedly been telling kids to prank him. I got the guy's shoes as well! They're next gen. Avia 880. Then I went to the library you said. My brother's been frantic. We need to get back soon."

He said, all in one breath.

"You did that all on your own." I said, surprised.

He grinned. "I'm smart. My brother doesn't always appreciate it, but I'm the best."

"I am so lucky to have you." I said. Really. I felt so tired. And agonized. Every bit of me hurt. I couldn't do this on my own. I just needed the magic healing.

"I know." He said. "So, ready to make all this stuff work?"

And I was. I let him handle some of it- he could tap into my skills by now- and we prepared the tools. I assembled the gun. The flamethrower. The smoke bomb. On autopilot. We added in some special surprises.

I was so close. I just had to control my thoughts for a bit longer. The morphine hadn't even touched this. I needed a pain fix if I was to focus enough.

That said, I remembered a plan. I had wanted- argh. I dropped all my perks except intelligence, and tried to focus through the haze of agony, the feeling of being watched, on my plans. I had planned this world out extensively. I had ideas and schemes and I just needed silence to get them. But I didn't have silence.

Oh. That was it. I'd come into a world with a god level demon clown for a reason. The system, the world, was fucking me over too much. I didn't trust it. I wanted to see if I could get a nicer patron. Maturin. The turtle. But he hadn't seen me. I was hoping the ritual of Chud might do something… why hadn't he noticed me? Why had he been able to attack and attack so quickly again and again, even reach afar to touch me.

I remembered something else. It hit me.

**Luck. Your importance to the plot and degree of plot armor to stay alive even when you should not.**

I hadn't been able to focus on that, when I was under the system. That was something I had sneaked around. Along with the identity of Summer, the screwy nature of the system, my name, my own skills.

"I was meant to die." Said Georgie. He was working on a radio activated bomb, and listening in on my rambling, degraded brain.

"You were. The clown was meant to kill you. All they got was your eye-" He touched the empty socket. "But that was your purpose in the narrative. You didn't matter, alive. You were there to motivate someone else to action. Your life, your dreams, your fate, it was to empower someone else."

"Is that still my fate?" He said, fatalism creeping into his young voice.

I could fight against it. I had. But before I had found safer ways. In Saw, I had allied with Gordon, who had luck and plot armor in spades. 30 luck. Then, I had allied with Ethan in Resident Evil 7. He was the protagonist, I was pretty sure, and he had the plot armor to live. Then, in Saw 2- that had been more my skills. A bit of my real me, too, creeping in. Without the toilet chemical bombs we wouldn't have escaped.

I could break the lines of fate, but it was a constant struggle. Laura was meant to die. Meant to be weak, to try to struggle to bring the group together. To die, while her sister died without her. Adam was meant to die so that Gordon could have his moment, to leave his mother alone. Mia was meant to die, so that Ethan could have his dark zombie moment choice. We were all meant to die to motivate someone else. Georgie was meant to be food in Pennywise's stomach so that his brother would have the will to fight back. That was fate.

"I write my own stories." Said Georgie. "I don't care about fate. I want to live."

"Me too." I said.

I wondered how many stat points I had now. Leveling up was weird. Any violent encounter could level me up, but only once per person. I think. There'd been two with Pennywise, plus I'd escaped his mind tomb, then there'd been… I dunno if the library had encountered. Did avoiding balloons count? There'd been the bear, that should count. The creepy hitchhiker clown. 6. The fight with the kids with the magic boots. 7. There were five kids, so I dunno if they counted as one or several.

I checked, slowly activating the power. Yep, just one level from that. 20 exp from the other 4 I think.

I dumped it all in luck.

"Your luck may be shitty. I'm gonna stand up for you. I'm ready. Are you?" I asked.

"Yeah. So, he's a demon? Is he invincible?" Asked Georgie.

"Nope" I said. "He's resistant to explosions, but he can be killed." He had walked out of an explosion in the movie version.

We went to his shop, the supplies still hidden in my bag. I avoided people as much as I could, ready to fight, gamer's mind up at full strength to shield me from psychic probes.

The shop had an overhanging black… thing. Canopies? I think. The store was lit from a glow within, with creepy dolls, one of which had Pennywise eyes and seemed to be watching me, and toys and rare objects on display at the front. I felt a tugging at my mind, as the items within attempted to reshape themselves to your desire.

Inside, I could see a man and a woman, arguing and shouting.

I walked in, and pulled out my gun. Closer, the man- grey haired, fantastic mustache, stylish look, turned to me- he was the guy-, as the woman screamed. The Ruger had 10 bullets ready, and I intended to make each count.

I pressed the gun to my shoulder, stood at full adult size with my right foot behind a few inches, pushed my shoulder down, put my finger on the trigger as I drew it up at him, put my hand on the fore stock, aimed down the sights, and pulled the trigger. Blood shot out from his chest where I'd fired.

Kick was pretty light. The Ruger was good for that. Using my support hand to aim, I pointed at his chest again and pressed the trigger. I repeated that 6 times, the barrel starting to get hot in my hands by the end. Not hot enough to stop me.

I stepped forward, getting closer because I had terrible aim, and shot twice more at his head. His chest was a bloody mess, and his head followed.

Was he vulnerable to guns? Did psychic forces help me? Was luck finally going my way? I don't know. But, he died pretty good to my gun. After that, the barrel was too hot to hold. Which is why it wasn't great when the lady drew a pistol out of a handbag on me.

"What the hell did you do?"

I dropped the now unloaded gun, and held my hands up. "Andrea?"

She pointed the gun at my head, holding it up further, hand on the trigger. "How do you know my name?" She looked annoyed. Cure was barking, and pretty agitated at the gunshots. "Quiet!" I gestured to Cure. He backed behind me, whining. Andi looked annoyed at me shouting at him.

"We talked on the internet. About your telescope. And- look at him again."

She stared at me, holding the gun on me. She was a short blonde white skinned woman with a snake tattoo on her arm, with an unhinged look in her eyes. Maybe thirty. Why was she working in an observatory?

"Macgyverthedestroyter9001? She said, slowly moving so Gaunt, the shop owner who had died, would be between me and her. Then she glanced down.

In the absence of his demonic magic, he had reverted back to form. A reptilian, dwarf like man with slit eyes and black red blood. Susan swore. "Shit what is that thing!" She kicked it, and some more black red blood oozed out.

"The Demon that caused all your problems. The pranks. He sells items with magical properties which curse those who take them."

She laughed, gesturing at me with her gun, her finger still on the trigger. "Magic isn't real. Try again."

I held up my gunless hand, some dirt inside it. It hurt to hold four perks active like this but- I activated my Earth Mastery and Wisdom, and made it twist into the shape of a telescope.

She stared at me for a while. I didn't really want another fight. Not against some random person he had screwed over.

Then her expression changed. She went from looking violent and murderous to friendly and cheery in a second. She put away the gun. That was a fast transition.

"Andrea Streiner" She said, smiling. "But you can call me Andi.

Red flags red flags, a sea of China sized red flags. Snakebite Andi. Killer lesbian vampire. This wasn't the film version though, she was fifteen- but had Andi been around in 1988? I had no idea what timeline I was in.

So, Andi Andi. Book version maybe? She liked films and she liked women. She would rob and stab men to make them show off to their wives that they'd flirted with her because her daddy was a pedo. Tattoo on her arm was a snake. She'd carve that into men.

And she probably had better physical stats than me, right now. Was she a vampire? Was this luck at work, a random encounter?

I'd planned for this. This wasn't unexpected. After the whole Amanda betrays me with Obi and Gus thing. Ask her questions, check for flashes of interest.

I looked at her carefully. "Good to see you're not a Rube." A muggle. "I tied the true knot on his fate." Vampire group. "And now I can show you more magic. It's not all rabbits and roses in hats." Rose the Hat, the leader. She didn't show any reaction, even when I flashed my enhanced Wisdom and Survival at her, beyond a little confusion at my strange phrases.

"But first I need to loot this shop for magic items. You mind?" She shook her head. Would people come running? I didn't know what it was like living in America. They had a lot of guns. Maybe hearing gunfire was normal? Hopefully.

I got a lot of cool items, that seemed to tug at my thoughts. With my gamer's mind I could see some creepy creatures hanging over them, and I dunno, there might be consequences to shoving them all in a bag but yolo. I took a picture of Elvis Presley, signed, with a green corpse succubi demon floating above it, a typewriter with a spider hanging above it, boxing gloves without any demon but with a tugging effect, a ring without anything too weird, a statue of Pennywise which I ignored.

Mostly.

I turned back to the window, which had big glowing eyes in it and shook my fist and shook it. "Not today, Satan!" And turned back to my loot.

Ooh, some sort of glowing liquid. A creature made of chains which shifted continually floated above that.

Some glasses. Novelty ones. Had a floating pennywise over it. Into the bag. Some chinese fortune cookies. A blindfold, with a small dwarf creature with gourged out eyes floating over it. Into the bag.

And there it was. An ancient amulet, which I recognized. There was a mosquito demon floating above it.

"Is that safe?" Asked Georgie.

"Not really, but it sucks up pain. It'll do soul damage long term, but I don't have long term."

"Will it hurt me?"

"I think I can focus it's attention on me, and regardless, your mental conditions heal within a day. You should be fine. Gamer's mind." I had tried very hard to avoid pain and Pennywise corruption from going over.

"Are you ok?" Asked Snakebite Andi. "You're talking to yourself and yelling at things."

"Evi-" Georgie took the reins, before I complained about an evil clown. "Stop freaking her out!" He said quietly. "These items are magical, they have bound demons in them."

I finished getting my collection, and suggested my coup detat.

"You want to be a girl?" Asked Georgie.

"She likes killing men because she's crazy."

"This feels a bit weird."

I pulled up the option to be Laura.

"If I give you control again, do you promise not to rant about clowns?" Asked Georgie.

"Can't you feel his eyes on us?"

"I can. But she can't. I think."

"Fine."

He gave me control again, and I used my limited mental capacity to spin some bullshit.

"I can teach you magic. This is my true and real form." I shapeshifted to Laura. I was now blonde, big busted, and classically beautiful.

"You're a woman!" Andi said, looking flushed. "I was going to-"

"Snake bite me?"

She blushed. "Well. Men, you know."

"Yeah, men are the worst. That's why I've come to help you. You are a mystic one, with great powers to do good, reminding men that they're scum."

She looked like she wanted to speak, then paused, not used to being open, then spoke.

"I knew it. I knew I deserved this. Every man I've met, they've been scum. Cheating, lying, being violent to those they say they love. Men are barely human!" She said. I felt this had been on a chest for a while.

Now, a man hating lesbian was definitely not woke. But that's what I had to work with. I wasn't sure I could fake it with this pain- so I grabbed the mystic healing amulet on.

The relief from the pain was immediate. I went from constant pulsating agony to being pain free, relaxed, and safe. This was amazing. I shivered. I had a sudden urge to sleep there and then, but I needed to spin up some more bullshit.

This was Snakebite Andi. Before she became the child eating vampire, but while she was picking up men to tattoo her mark on them. I was aware that the Pennywise sightings might be hallucinations, or might be him trapping me. If the second, some extra psychic muscle would do well.

And if I failed, she might kill me. A risky game. I needed to hold her support. I wasn't sure I could hold a line of bullshit against her, and she had psychic powers. Honesty was safer.

She feels crazy. You should have tried honesty with me, thought Georgie at me.

Hindsight. I mean, in a video game do you say to the npcs Hello peasants, I am from another world and I am an immortal undying parasite?

You're my immortal undying parasite, thought Georgie.

I took out some meat sticks from my bag. "Mind calming Cure?" I asked her, gesturing at Cure.

Andi smiled, and took the meat sticks. "Want one, Cure?" She said. Cure instantly went to bite it, hunger winning out over fear.

I picked up my Ruger long rifle and put it in my bag again. "We should head out the back." I said, gesturing. "Murder, you know?"

She nodded. "Yeah, the cops get very mad when you kill men. Who's a good doggie, who's a good doggie!" She said, patting Cure's fur. He apparently was very easy to bribe into love. Probably not the best guard dog.

We walked out, hopefully none the wiser as to why we were there.

"So, tell me. How can I get more powerful? I want to start the purge. Show men not to hurt women."

This was a difficult conversation.

"You could try luring men into your bed, and then slicing a snake into their skin."

She punched my arm.

"Hey, something new stalker" She said with a smile.

"Does hurting men ever get old?"

She put a finger on her lip, grinning as we walked away, and used her other hand, her left, to take mine.

"It's always a unique experience. I love knowing that I made a difference. When my knife digs into their flesh and they scream and wriggle I just know I'm saving some woman from them. They'll see it and know their man wasn't faithful. I'm protecting them." She said, pretty happy to have a captive audience.

"Protecting women is very important." Active listening. Agree, don't interject your own viewpoint, focus on their interests. "But I always was curious about something- how does being an astronomer tie into this?"

She swayed her hand. "I'm working an angle. Owner is a real scumbag. Treats his interns like shit, overworks them, pretty sure he does more. I'm gonna get close."

I sighed. Only so much serial killer talk I could take.

"I'm pretty tired. How would you feel about delaying this conversation to watch a film?" I needed a break to fix my gamer powers.

I heard a voice in my head. Georgie. "Don't leave me alone with her! She's crazy."

"Just say men are bad, and films are awesome. It's not that hard. I believe in you. You're the true hero."

"Aliens 2 is out tonight at the local cinema. I'd love to watch it."

I receded into my mind. "Good luck! Call me if anything happens!" "My first time! Not with her-" called out Georgie. I sent a mental thumbs up to Georgie. He had my wisdom and intelligence to call upon if he needed them. If she went crazy I'd sense it.

Now I needed to do some psychic surgery. My perks and abilities were all anchored to memories in my head. They were like delicious meaty snacks. Surrounding it was the rest of the goo and grey matter of my brain. Intermixed in those fragments were bits of something disgusting. Let's say, insects. I needed to fish the meaty parts out from the parasites of IT in my brain and bring them together.

I couldn't do this well when awake. I'd tried. I had sharp pain and couldn't keep focus. But now, I had a psychic vampire feeding on my pain.

The memories all had a dual anchor. My gamer's mind was anchored to the comfort of being with my mother. If I focused on that memory I'd restart Gamer's Mind, but Fear of losing my family was tied in with it. Maybe I could do some elaborate thing to lose my fear or something, but Pennywise was on my tail now.

So, instead, I re-anchored the power. I focused on another memory- the glass that protected me from explosions in the lab. It also protected me from students who could be annoying, protecting my emotional sanctity. I held this memory up, and willed the power to leave that- and it did.

I felt the fragment of Pennywise stab through my memory, trying to find what it had lost, but failing.

Next.

I woke up briefly in the cinema. Pretty classic place. Lots of red chairs, the smell of stale popcorn in the air, and a big screen with curtains. This place looked pretty decrepit. Pennywise was probably after me. I left him some surprises. There weren't many people here, so, was pretty easy.

"Is she ok?" I asked Georgie.

"I got to talking to her about Alien. It's going ok. You need to get me out of here. She keeps saying men are like aliens to be purged." I looked around. Decent crowd of people watching. Ooh, there was a couple near us making out with wet sloppy kisses. No clown eyes. No sense of being watched.

Was this a time when it was like, all the animals went quiet, and someone was about to strike? Oh well, I needed time.

"Have fun!" And I went back under.

I was almost ready. Georgie could handle this. Some part of my power were off limits. I couldn't access my inventory, that was gooed up with Pennywise fragments that oozed malevolence. Music settings were offline, happily. I put Time to Float on. It was a solid song. I loved the base in it. Solid beat for work. A lovely mix of electronics and the screams of sound track really was great. After the lameness that he had done with Anabelle, IT was much better. Very mixed sound track, great mix of songs.

More psychic surgery happened. I was sure this was probably causing horrible brain damage and stuff, and hurting my soul, but, power.

I managed to gather most of my strength back up. I was almost ready and-

"Peter!" I heard a shout.

On the big movie theater screen was not an alien, or marines, or anything normal. There was a giant clown, with glowing eyes, and one hand sticking out, resting on the floor. Pennywise, in all his white and red glory, massive forehead even more massive now, a balloon the size of a dump truck bouncing up at the top of the cinema ceiling. That was a sight to wake up to.

"That's a big ass demon clown." I said.

Pennywise spoke. "Did you think you could run away, run run run, and get away? There's no escape." He giggled, his head shaking. "I'm coming for you." I drew my gun out, and Adi drew out hers, and pointed it at the clown

From the top of the cinema, the door open. There stood the man who had tried to take me before.

"Leave us!" He commanded. Everyone who wasn't me got up, and walked out, none of them glancing back. Some took bags, one even took popcorn. We were alone. Behind the Mayor, walked a dozen men in tactical body armor, holding sub machine guns. They paced around the edge, keeping an eye on me.

"Name is John Wayne Gacy." He said, bowing. "At your service. You're trapped here with me."

Adi twisted back and forth, increasingly nervous. "Can you do some magic trick to get us out of this?" She asked, looking for a way out.

I pointed the gun at her head, and pulled the trigger. Her head blew out, exploding like a melon hit by a hammer, splattering me with gore. I quickly put the last two points of stats into luck, raising my luck to 10, that of a normal human.

She was a psycho. And I needed the luck to contact the turtle. Sorry.

Georgie was momentarily shocked into silence, and Cure was whining and pacing around scared. The men with guns had started to level them at me. I pressed the button of a radio I had bought. All around me, under chairs, smoke bombs I had placed exploded, sending smoke and dust spewing out through the cinema.

I activated the gamer system again.

**System re-initialized- success. Partial functionality. **

Power rushed back into me, intoxicating, intense, and strong. "I'm not trapped in here with you. You're trapped in here with me.

It was time to play a game.

* * *

I'm back! Took me a while to work out how to make this chapter. It's way harder when you don't have canon rails to guide you. Next chapter should be easier, and then we're back to canon rails.

Pennywise and Pogo the Clown/ John Wayne Gacy vs Macgyver. Congrats to Gatling2745 and IncognitoMinerals for guessing it. I try to avoid OCs mostly, and so when I needed some manpower for Pennywise far away, why not the clown that reportedly inspired Pennywise?

And no fakeouts. Unless something new happens, the system is back.

JakeWJElliot2. It is, there are so many awesome stories in his universe. He may be back later. There's a lot of Saw movies to go through, he could still visit The Dark Tower, Doctor Sleep, Gerald's game, or many other places. He's gonna set up stuff here, so many ripples.

CrimsonSlyvan. Yeah. Kids aren't stupid. They do lots of stupid things, they lack experience, but they can figure a lot out with enough knowledge. I've worked with six year olds. They can be devious. He's ready to dodge sewer clowns. Plus, he has psychic powers, so he has some sense of stuff going on.

Guest. It's Saw, he has a dark life. There are downs, and limbs cut off, and horrible deaths, but with each failure or success he gets stronger and more in control of his fate.

Borgelious. He meets people from old stories again at times, and he develops as a character.

Arkyong. It is saw. In Saw, things Saw.

Thorison1080. He can work through projectors, he clearly has some ability to control electronics. But, he can't scare electronics. Probably.

Guest. It's mostly 2017 film IT, but has some book IT mixed in.

Dragonbornthesam. Learning about clowns is fun.

Watermelonninja. How can anyone sleep without a flamethrower? He does have a flamethrower now anyway, and he did sleep. Great predictions.

Gatling2745. Congrats for guessing, and yeah he has a plan, but in this story he is sorta keeping things on the down low. Georgie and Pennywise can read his surface thoughts, so he is being careful to monitor his thoughts and plans. He has definite plans for the clown.

IncognitoMinerals. Correct, congrats.

Join us next time for the fight, and the return.


	32. Fate and Family

If you roll the dice enough, they'll turn up snake eyes. I'd survived so far, but eventually I knew how this would end. I would get in over my head, get in some place where I was out of my depth. I'd die, hit the penalty, and be a physically and mentally broken mess. This wasn't helped by the fact that my system liked to fuck with me continually. Summer, or whatever it was called, was an asshole.

That's why I was looking for a new patron. Someone nicer and friendlier who would keep me safer in times of danger. A big magic turtle.

"See the TURTLE of Enormous Girth"  
"On his shell he holds the Earth."  
"His thought is slow, but always kind."  
"He holds us all within his mind."  
"On his back all vows are made;"  
"He sees the truth but mayn't aid."  
"He loves the land and loves the sea,"  
"And even loves a childe like me."

He had created the world, vomiting it out, and I was hoping I could persuade him to give me a little divine boost. I hadn't been able to think about it before because the system had been shutting that down and people were mind reading me left and right, so I'd had it as a subconscious idea and plan. And while it had been perfectly function, the fragment of power meant to censor my mind hadn't been restarted with the rest of my power.

As I inhaled the burnt magnesium, firework smell of the smoke bomb, I dived to the floor. Above my head gunfire rippled. I heard a scream from both sides, as bullets thudded into his thugs.

Sure, it looked all dramatic having all his paid mooks walk out of the cinema and his new mooks form a circle around me. But a circle was terrible as a firing line. If you miss your shot, you might hit a companion. Amateurs.

I had a host of notifications. I dismissed them all. No time.

I pulled up my interface. Luck perks from buying it up to 10. Thank you Snakebite Andi for the free exp.

**Ka-tet. One from many. You and a group of people are tied together by fate, shielded by the will of fate. Duty and destiny, where you must go. Once per day, gain +10 luck for the entire ka-tet for the sake of a single act of fate. 25 perk points. Off limits. Need at least three party members.**

**Deadlight acoylte. You are a creature of terror and horror. You have forsaken your humanity to gain a hint of the divine. Terrify others, and guide their fates to death. You can gain a constant bonus of up to ten luck by increasing the terror of others.**

I quickly pulled up the party interface, and added Cure and Georgie to my party. We we currently hiding under the chairs, buried in cheap popcorn and sticky soda as gunshots fired above us and they started to make some order.

"You're my family now. I'll keep you both safe."

"Does that mean Bill wasn't part of my Ka-tek?" Asked Georgie, sounding offended.

"Probably. Fate is an asshole. Fuck Gan." Cure barked in the party interface at that.

As well as the evil and good luck perks, I had a few of the cheapo ones.

**Hint of fate. You are closely connected to the currents of fate. Once a day, you can ask for one common sense fate question to a current situation. The advice will advance your destiny and never lead directly to death.**

There were others, but they could wait.

I bought the perk and sent a question out to the universe. "How do I get Maturin to notice me?" I felt a rumbling around me, but got no response. Oh well. I connected that perk, connected to a memory of me winning a game of Yahtzee with my family, and one of IT, a memory of my hand being slammed in a toilet seat at school, and fed the perk into IT's fragments.

I took my rifle, and listened. I had boosted wisdom, I had an advanced apprentice level rare survival skill, my hearing was pretty solid. There. Bang! A gunshot. I rolled out of the seat, aimed, and fired off three shots. I dismissed the wisdom check succeeded popup as I heard a scream and the drop of a body. Solid shots.

"There he is!" Came John's voice. "Get him!" I pulled my gun off and fired a shot. I felt a rush off air, as Pennywise's massive hand slammed down, shielding John Wayne, and a wet thud, and dived to the floor as John's thugs opened fire on my last position.

One shot? Not quite enough. I couldn't rely on Cure except for ambushes and my health wasn't great. 100 HP, enough to die from a single shot. I needed an edge.

I took a motolov from my bag, lit the rag with a lighter, and tossed it at one of the twelve remaining thugs. 13 at the start, one down, two injured.

It hit with an explosive thrum, and the man screamed and screamed in terror as he burnt. I prepped a second one, and then felt a sudden pulse of fear. On instinct, I dived forward as a white painted hand as large as a car slammed down, cracking seats and ripping through the floor. Above, I saw glowing orange eyes, and then Pennywise's face rush down through the smoke at me, white paint cracking, red hair waving, yellow teeth hungry for my flesh. He shouted, his voice loud enough to hurt my eyes.

"I see you I see you I see-" I tossed the motolov up, aiming for his nostril. It slammed into him, burning away, and he reared back, head slamming into the ceiling of the cinema. I burnt another perk, and asked another question.

"Maturin, Maturin, why do you ignore me? I am hurting your enemy and slew two agents of the red."

The burning man was still screaming, and was close. As he came by I swept my foot past his, knocking him over to painfully become crispy on the floor, and picked up his machine gun. I glanced back. I could see him in the smoke. His flesh was burnt, black and cracked. He wouldn't be the last.

I pointed the sub machine gun, and did a series of controlled bursts at the other side of the theatre, the left side. I heard several screams. Two more bodies hit the floor.

"Fuck, stop firing at us!" Called one of the people on the other side. I opened fire at the voice, taking one more down. They didn't know I had their gun. They might guess now. I dived to the ground, and yanked out my flamethrower, igniting it, tossing down my bag.

I triggered the perk once more. I couldn't normally reactivate perks, but normally I couldn't destroy them by feeding them to Pennywise.

"I stopped Snakebite Andi before she joined the True Knot. That has to count for something." No response.

"He took our guns!" Said John. "Blow up his last location!" That was a mission. I instructed Cure to sneak around back, and try to ambush John Wayne Gacy.

I could hear there was a group of two, and a group of four on the right. If I stayed where I was… did they have a rocket launcher? A grenade? Something bad I was sure. I needed to get out.

I shifted down to Georgie size, small and light, and triggered inhuman strength. I then sprinted and leapt as fast as I could, smashing my way out of the smoke over the heads of the group of four, spraying them with my flamethrower, shooting wet flames at them. One died instantly, burnt to crisps. The other three were singed, but the flame didn't catch on their thick clothing.

I was a shitty shot.

One rushed me, gun wavering in his hand. Still flush on my inhuman strength, I morphed back to full size me, slammed into him, feeling him burn as I used my strength to manhandle.

"Ooowww" Said Georgie. I quickly shunted the agony of burning to me. As the other two raised their guns on me, I held the man up. The bullets thud thud thudded into him, ripping bloody holes, but his own flesh and clothing proved enough to resist their shots. I ducked behind some seats, using them as a barrier along with the corpse.

Almost there…

The grenade went off, just where I had been, hitting my bag. Inside that, the pipe bomb I had built went off. Super heated nails ripped out, slamming through the cinema, thouroughly wrecking the already damaged and despoiled cinema.

**15 damage done! Weakened shoulder debuff negated by gamer's body.**

"Fuck!" Said one on the other side.

"Argh! Said another on my side.

I burnt another perk, the old one dissolved into Pennywise's fragments.

"Notice me senpai!"I asked of the perk. "Speak to me Maturin-Sensei! I slay the enemy's minions in your name." I sensed a rumble of annoyance from the universe. It was working!

I heard a massive sound, like a vacuum on overdrive. The smoke started to vanish, Pennywise sucking it up into him. For now he was surrounded by a cloud of smoke, but that wouldn't last.

The cinema looked bad. Everyone except one person on the left side had been pulped, and were lying down screaming a the nails sticking out of their bloody bodies. John had survived, behind Pennywise's now burnt and nail filled hand, along with one of his soldiers who had only got a partial blast, most caught on his armour.

Still, those two were raising guns. They had pretty fanatical loyalty. Mind magic, I assumed. John Wayne Gacy pointed. "F"

Acid sprayed at him from behind, catching his face. Cure then leapt out, biting into John's neck. He cried out and fell down, his two guards turning to look at him as he cried out and screamed as his flesh bubbled and melted, and Cure bit and tore into him.

I used the perk again. "John Wayne Gacy is dead. Answer me, Maturin. I need your help. Let's finish Pennywise." An idea struck me, as the luck perk started to fade. He didn't like weebiness. "Maybe I can make a harem anime about Maturin-sensei! Going across America, collecting all the cute turtles!"

I sensed an amused chuckle from the universe, but no reply.

It wasn't anime then…

The two last people stood across from me, looking at their fallen master, guns pointed at me.

I was pretty spent. They had a clear angle on me, I had no strength perk left to burn. Maybe their injuries would slow them down, but I would probably get shot and die if I moved. I had another idea. My interface was back.

**John Murphy. Dockworker. 20/55 hitpoint, conditions bleeding. 15 str, 12 dex, 8 con, 3 wisdom, 8 int, 6 cha 1 luck. Current emotion. Terrified for himself.**

**Chris McCarthy. Dockworker overseer. 10/70 hitpoints, conditions bleeding. 11 str, 10 dex, 11 con, 9 wisdom, 10 int, 14 cha 1 luck. Current emotion. Afraid for his family.**

"Chris, go home to your family. John, get yourself to a hospital. Or I'll show you another of my surprises." I said, with a menacing grin. I did not have another surprise. Smoke bombs had been it. I hadn't had time to make a sophisticated radio trigger.

They didn't know it. They were terrified, shocked, and broken. They turned tail and ran for the exit.

I triggered the luck perk a sixth time.

"I saved those men, Maturin. Don't I deserve an audience? They're free from an evil clown."

The universe felt pensive.

That left just me and Pennywise. He wasn't looking great. He had metal nails sticking out of his skin, was burnt, paint dripping off, red scars dripping with blood. But still massive, he smiled at me.

"I've been looking forward to your taste.  
"Good luck."

"Surrender your passenger." Said Pennywise, to Georgie. "And I'll let you go. I'll return you to Bill. I'll leave you alone." He said, laughing at himself. "You'll be safe."

I felt a pulse of fear, and Pennywise smiled all the brighter.

"He lied to me. He made me fear for my brother. He took my body."

Pennywise spoke. "I can punish him for all of that."

"But-" Said Georgie. "We're family now. And you don't drop family." Cure came back to me, shielded from the blast, happy and bloody. He stood behind me. "Me, Cure, and Peter."

That felt good. Warm. Not in a magic way. A friendly way.

"Thank you..." I said to Georgie. "It means a lot."

And, suddenly, I knew how to get Maturin's attention.

I triggered the luck perk, giving me +10 luck, and asked a question.

"Why wasn't Georgie part of Bill's Ka-tek? Why did he deserve to die?"

I heard a mystical sigh, and a voice. "You have my attention." Maturin, the World Turtle.

Finally.

* * *

I should be back onto a daily schedule now, with weekends off to build up a buffer. Yay for updates. Now he gets to chat with the world creator. Should be fun. See you next time.

Artekha. Preparation is the best weapon.

Dragonbornthesam. Yeah, but he'd need magic to fuel it and the magic perk.

Next time, Pennywise vs Maturin vs Macgyver.


	33. Senpai noticed me!

Crawling out of the screen, Pennywise lunged for me. I dived down, dodging his hand, and sprinted for the exit.

Unhooking the gas container on my air gun flamethrower, jury rigged already to be explosive, I tossed it at his face. I was off target by about a meter, but his head was pretty huge. Explosive liquid spoiled out, burning his face further.

I sprinted out, dodging a blind slap of his hand as I slammed my way out of the door. Cure was right… ahead of me, running much faster. Lucky bastard, with four legs.

Into the corridor outside. Old movie posters for 80s movies hung across the wall. Back to the future, Terminator, The Princess Bride, Top Gun. They were showing a lot of good oldies.

I spoke to Maturin again, as I ran. "You oversee fate. Why didn't get protected by his brother's ka-tek? The psychic link of fate which binds families, securing them even against mighty supernatural entities."

Maturin spoke, his voice deep, booming, powerful, slow. I could see his reptilian head, vaster than worlds, and his glowing scales, in many colours. "It was not his fate. I could not protect him. He had his place, as do we all."

"As does IT?"

"Energy is eternal, my otherworldly friend. You must be able to see that."

"How can you tolerate evil like him! He told me about you. How you were kind" Shouted Georgie in my head.

I spoke. "The cycle continues. The world spins on."

"You understand. I can't change it all. It continues." He didn't sound happy. I think I could find an edge in there.

"Some things disrupt the cycle. They weigh upon the world, breaking it. With each day, the world gets heavier and heavier on your shoulders. Your death is coming, you know?"

"I will die. And live again."

I spoke, cutting in sharply. "Are you sure? The Red might win. Their breakers might crack reality and fracture it, and end it all. This may be the final cycle."

"Then so be it." I was missing something. He sounded… hopeless. Learned hopelessness.

"You've tried to help before, haven't you?"

Georgie spoke. "They don't let you help, do they?"

"When my focus is distracted, they strike elsewhere. My power vanishes into them, consumed, and the world ends a bit faster. It's better to be surgical with my interventions. I am alone, in a long long war." He said. "Go, rejoin your brother. I will aid him when the time comes. Tell him of my brother. Stay out of the sewers, and you will be safe now."

I could imagine. An ancient, powerful being. Beset on all sides by enemies. Stephen Kings worlds were harsh and painful places, where more often than not the good lost. Pain and suffering ruled. Maturin had lived in that world. Been rebuffed countless times, slowly fading from the world. The cycle of the dark tower repeating over and over as he died, again and again. A divine turtle corpse, still fantastically powerful, but impotent before the sheer breadth of threats.

So, he trusted in fate. Stayed with the safe course, the most likely course to survival. Doing nothing new. Some like Georgie faded- but he had many responsibilities. Perhaps if he intervened to save him he would disrupt the fate that stopped Pennywise, or be distracted long enough for even more to die. He was slow, careful, and methodical.

Could he read my mind? He was saying no more. Perhaps Maturin respected me enough not too. I needed to show my respect of him.

"You're wrong about something. You're not alone. You're in the fight with me and Bill. You're our family, no matter what strings of fate say. Our Ka-tek. And we can stop your death."

As I said that, I heard a sad laugh, as the roof rocked. Slowly, it was torn off.

"The eagerness of children. No, I have seen the lines of Fate. My death is fated. I will perhaps be reset but-"

"Did you see me?" He paused.

"Your fate is tied to a being weaker than me, but he acts on the commands of one stronger. I can't see your fate." He admitted. "But you can't destroy Pennywise. His energy is eternal."

"I am from your future. I know all the trouble spots, before they happen. And we don't need to destroy Pennywise. Energy is eternal, but it can change."

The ceiling of the cinema corridor was ripped off, and Pennywise's massive mug was in there. The light flickered. I could see him crawling towards me. It flickered again. He was closer, mouth wide.

"Help me, and we'll help you." I called out. "Be a part of our family, and we'll take care of you." I sent a party invitation to Maturin.

Georgie gave an appeal. "We need you. Be our friend."

And Cure did too, sending a sense of family, warmth, and care.

**Party invitation accepted. Ma-Tek energy overflowing.**

My fist glowed white, hotter than stars. My eyes burnt like fire. I felt the divine strength of Maturin fill me. I saw IT for what it is. A clown. A spider. The manifestation of horrors. A void of hunger and need, from beyond the stars. Fixed in a form of horror. He was feeding off the terror of those who had come to this place and seen horror films. He knew the law of shapes. He had taken a massive form so that he would be resistant to my weapons. The penetration was small, and he would survive, no matter what beliefs we held.

It was time to show him. I stepped forward, and rammed my fist into him. I didn't hit with strength, or perks, or anything like that. I hit him with the immobility of the turtle, with the bond of desperation we four had forged. A lost dog, abandoned to die in a poisoned house, a boy destined to die to inspire his brother, a scientist locked without tools in a toilet, and the last good god in a world of horror and pain. Together, we hit him.

**300,000,000 damage done! Critical hit!**

He slammed around my fist, immovable to his simple horror, and fell, clown sized, on the ground. I kneeled down, and began slamming my fists repeatedly into his face, making the white skin run red and black with blood, venting all my frustration on him, each blow hard enough to smash a mountain. I scratched, punched, slapped, all with cosmic force.

I saw his status.

**Pennywise. Race, Deadlight. Divine status. Demigod. HP. 0/2000. Backup HP. 9*10^70/10^70**

It was a lot, but we were unstoppable. Still, I could feel Maturin's power draining. He wouldn't sustain this forever.

I rammed one fist into his chest, and grabbed his true, black void form in the macroverse, while grabbing his arm with my other hand. With a powerful tug, I ripped it off.

I could see deep into the macroverse now. I could see the currents of power. I could feel how the universe worked. It was almost in my grasp- yes. Stories. Ideas. Flooding around me. Narratives. The world ran on them. Ideas and concepts. But that wasn't all. Form meant substance. Pennywise became a fairy, cold iron harmed him. But with his strength why. I felt I almost had it-

Then it vanished. The insights and ideas and knowledge seeped away. Pennywise teleported away, armless, snarling, and I was left alone with Maturin.

"So." I said, holding up the arm, as Cure slowly came back, from his hiding spot behind a Arnold Terminator paper character. "Power is power, energy is energy. Think you can sustain yourself off your old enemy's power?" This had been my idea. Pennywise could eat psychic kids. Vampires could eat psychic kids. Why did that have to be one way? Why not have Maturin, the good god, eat an evil god?

Maturin grinned before me, and reached down with his turtle head, snapping up the fragment of Pennywise. He spoke, his voice no less clear for the food in his mouth.

"I'm not as helpful a master as your old one. I will be busy. And I cannot override the system entirely. One stronger than I is under their sway."

I shrugged. "I need a solid basis. You can do that. And I can supply all the cosmic horrors you want to eat and feed from, and slay those that disrupt your foundations. You don't have to die. In this family, you eat well."

He finished consuming IT's cursed flesh, with a burp.

"I want the harem anime as well. Belief of children is strength. Make much media of me, so that my strength my returns"

"It's… not for children. Anime. It's mostly adults."

"Then why is it a colourful cartoon?" Georgie sent a note of agreement. "Just do the harem anime." commanded Maturin.

"How many turtles should be yours, then?" I asked

"All of them."

"Deal, Maturin Senpai." I said. And I felt a rush of power into me.

**Gamer interface, upgraded. Integrating Pennywise and and Maturin power sources.**

This should be good. I leaned against a poster of Who Framed Roger Rabbit, braced myself- and a powerful agony ripped through my body. Every part of me flooded with energy. It was happening.

* * *

Maturin the harem anime is ago. What should it be called?

Dragonbornthesam. Could be fun. I was thinking of doing penalty levels at some point, and that could work as a setting for one.

Thorison1080. Derry is still ongoing, but in the film it was months before pennywise started fucking around, and now he's just been beaten up and had his arm ripped off and eaten.

Pokelover. His power got eaten by Pennywise. He tore it out, but some fragments of Pennywise, a cannibal clown, were left. He is feeding the perks to the cannibal clown so he can buy them again to reuse them.

Incognitominerals. Yeah the old system was fucking with his head a lot. He'll be able to think clearer with this.

See you next time as we return to Derry Maine.


	34. Interlude It Plans and It Saws

**Interlude. IT.**

He was coming, he was coming. It had not foreseen this, it had foreseen many things but not this. The mad dancer had spun this one onto his path, spreading his mad tales throughout the world. Something else had returned. That fear. It hated the fear.

Something new had happened. Before the universe had begun there were just two. The turtle, and It. The turtle was a stupid, fat bloated thing that he had thought had been dead for the last billion years. Even if it wasn't, it was still a stupid old thing.

But that wasn't all even then. They'd been alone here, but there had been one before that, and it's servant. The threads of fate span around them as countless worlds were forged, their will creating a million million places. He had been there, spinning chaos into all. This wasn't just him though. The power had tasted strange, and was forged of something else. Of stories, of potential.

It heard a whimpering. Henry Bowers and his gang were unhappy being here, eyes darting from side to side, seeking a way out, some escape.

It rushed over to him and kicked at them and kicked again. "Is this what you wanted? 98/100 service? Are you liking this? Are you liking this?" He asked, kneeling down face to face with each.

It went to grab Henry, but failed. It's arm was missing. Stolen. It couldn't restore it. It's power had been ripped away.

It roared, and paced away.

Earth was full of rich tasty food. A quality of imagination that tickled the tastebuds, teeth rending flesh with exotic fears, people who made media about horrors and terrors. It had lived in a cycle of eating and sleeping, creating a place where It held sway. Derry was It's killing pen.

And then that one had come, from across the stars. Macgyver, It had sensed he was called.

It had intended to kill him. To taste another world's fear, drive out the invader. It had called on it's ally, the clown It had saved, helped ascend. It had taken a form large enough to drive away weapons. It had been uneasy after been hurt and driven away before- the invader grasped the rule of Shapes, that all living things must abide by the rules of the shape they inhabit, been able to hurt It. But no longer. It had felt fear, of pain, of death, but more than that, a new emotion.

Hate. How dare this foreign being come to It's world How dare It hurt them? They had even awoken the turtle from their slumber after vomiting the tiny egg that was this world into existence, and ripped away a huge fragment of their power.

It needed more power. It intended to use that rule against the turtle. If it embodied itself so directly in this world, It could consume their flesh. Eat their decaying corpse, make them feel fear.

It glanced back at the gang of boys. It needed their children to awake. More than that, It needed an edge. It had tracked the flurry through spacetime, the movements, the twists, the dances, across distances far vaster than a single universe. It had found the source, and found an ally. Someone who fed off fear like them, and knew Macgyver.

It would hurt them, make them feel fear, and then cast them insane into the deadlights. It would eat Maturin, and the invader. But first...

It opened a portal, and a man stepped out. Pale skinned, long nosed, blonde, and free of fear.

"Welcome to my world, Jigsaw." It said.

* * *

For reasons to do with a house party annoying people threw, I got no sleep last night. So, have an interlude from IT's perspective. They're making plans and schemes and stuff.

Guest. I don't speak Spanish, so it is hard for me to make a story based off a Spanish horror tale.

Gatling2745. Solid name. And yeah, I like Stephen King so this one is a bit more in depth, and I hope it proves fun.

Krumpwoman. Like, he could probably keep him, but Georgie probably wouldn't want to, though if he cloned him like he did Evie and Ethan that might go well.

Artekha. The clown is back on the menu tonight.

DokB. Yeah, it's a busy time. In every Saw movie he's basically locked in a box of death, so when he gets a chance to escape he immediately goes on a wild tour of the world.

Thorison1080. Another solid title. And yeah, he totally could make deals to reduce the power. There are some limits, as Maturin has noted, but Maturin is stronger than his original sponsor so they can't just shove him aside. And yeah, the game master can definitely retaliate in lots of ways, but because the game master has already been retaliating whimsically, he prefers to at least have a fairer system. He doesn't want to go into Saw 3 and find surprise! Your system has been turned off as an experimental thing to test higher difficulty levels or some nonsense.

Sansas22. Great titles both. And yeah, he has advanced technology, he can make an anime far in advance of the 1988s.

Watermelonninja. Bold idea, have him cuckold the turtle. Well, he can still write one of those about pennywise after he beats him. And fun title.

Guest. 2-3 chapters. This one was a bit longer than most arcs, because corona virus slowed my writing pace and new patron, but we'll be back in Sawland soon.

Next time, the return to Derry, and we get to see the new system upgrades, and we get to see what magic items got stolen from Needful Things, and the harem anime can begin.


	35. Turtle upgrades

I felt waves of energy rush over me, a raw and intense pleasure, a burning. Up and down my body. Then, they changed. Waves of pain stabbed through me, my body tearing itself apart. Then the pleasure resumed. Back and forth the cycle continued. I stood in the dirty, greasy cinema, leaning against a terminator stand, breathing fast.

I had three sets of power within me fighting it out. Maturin's, Pennywise' and my mysterious asshole patron. Maturin likely had enough power to overwhelm either of the other two, but then I'd probably pop. So, this slow process of conversion.

I bit my- Georgie's lip, hard enough to make blood drip down as a particularly painful set of contractions came on. It hurt, but was nothing compared to the last three days.

I needed a nap, a hard drink, and a good meal.

Then it faded. And...

**Scientist skill gained! Skill merged with Survivor skill to gain legendary journeyman skill, Mad Scientist!**

**Unarmed combat and baseball skill overridden! Original uncommon advanced apprentice skills sword fighting and judo merged to form rare Duelist advanced apprentice skill!**

**Animal control skill overridden! Original horse riding and dog training skills merged to form uncommon hunter skill!**

**Diplomacy skill overridden! Original uncommon skill teacher at advanced apprentice!**

**Computer skill ranked up due to original skills up to advanced apprentice level!**

**First aid skill ranked up due to original skills up to advanced apprentice level!**

**Driving skill gained at apprentice level due to original skills!**

**New Title gained! As a result of making a bargain with a divine entity, you have gained the Seducer of the Divine title! 100% increase in relationship improvements with divine entities.**

**New Perk gained! Mark of Maturin. His tattoo will be on your flesh always, a reminder of your bargain. Acts as a tutorial. May grant situational benefits. **

**New Perk gained! Hunger of the deadlights. You can consume and absorb any divine energy, with your patron's aid.**

**New perk gained! Magic user perk gained due to your close association with a journeyman psychic. **

**500 perk points gained!**

**Level reset.**

I felt a searing agony, a stronger pulse than any before as my body was reworked, a sharp burning on my forearm, and my mind evaporated to nothing.

I fell on my face.

A little while later, I felt a wet tongue licking at my face, and heard a voice, very distant.

"Wake up! Wake up!" Said Georgie.  
"Five more minutes." I said, turning over. The floor was very comfy. Red. Soft. Carpet.

"Wake up, my family." Said Maturin. And I did. I slowly got up, flexing my hands. I had all five fingers, and all my extremities. I knelt down to pet Cure. He got close. I could sense he had been worried- ah, new information feed from Hunter.

**Hunter. You are a master of horse and dogs, skilled with animals, able to control and ride them. You can maintain up to 10 animal familiars, with boosted capabilities, and communicate with them well and do basic first aid, along with doing improved damage against animals.**

Looking at Cure I could see a flurry of information from him, far more detailed than I gained from survivor. His mood, his health, his strengths, his history, countless little things. I had a host of new or upgraded skills, from my original identity as Peter.

I checked my arm, where I still felt a burning. There on my arm was a new tattoo. A turtle, looking up, smiling, with green skin and many colours across them. Maturin. A sign that even in a world of horror, there were people looking out for you. I could feel a pulsing power thrumming in it. Slow, careful, but unstoppable once they had a target.

"That's a pretty cool set of power-ups. Did Pennywise go down easy?"

Maturin, visible always now to me, nodded. "I hadn't thought of consuming my foes like that. Bill and his companions were meant to simply kill them. I guess sometimes you just have to throw out the normal playbook and dig your teeth into it."

"So, I bet you got more than 500 perk points. How about sending a few million my way?"

"I sent as many as I could, without tripping the alerts on you. If too much is granted, I would be destroyed." That was a pity. I wanted unlimited power.

"So, who are my old patrons?"

"Still your patrons. If I tell you too much, I would face grave consequences. I will say this though- one is a mad dancer, the other a performer."

"Which one is Summer?" The mind blank had kept me from remembering that name. It would be nice to find out more."

"The performer. They bring about summer."

"You really can't give me more details?"

"I would be classed as an intruder if I did, violating another world. An inter planar invader. Of course you are one, but ignored, the strands of fate weaved away from you."

"I guess I'll have to investigate in other ways."I sighed. Maybe later. "For now, we have a sewer clown to hunt."

It was a lot easier getting back. Mad scientist made me a lot better at everything mechanical, so I just hotwired a car and drove back.

Halfway there, I stopped at a gas station and checked out my magic loot.

**Magical shoes. These shoes will allow you to accurately kick any object a great distance, though they will normally cause unintended destruction.**

Not really my thing.

**Amulet of pain. This amulet contains a pain vampire, which drains your pain, causing soul damage to strengthen itself. 20/1000 charges. Will emerge to consume those around it at 1000.**

Ominous.

**Elvis Presley picture. Contains a fragment of Elvis' soul, merged with a succubi. Will summon the wielder to endless orgies with the king. 0/1000 charges. Will emerge at 1000.**

Sounded like a good trap card.

**Typewriter. Improves your writing skills substantially, but with a strong urge to write murder stories. Any murders you write have a high chance of happening in real life.**

Sounded like a good tool to write the harem anime once I bitch slapped the spirit into obedience.

**Boxing gloves of Muhammed. Will take you back to the 1975 fight between Ali and Frazier, reliving it endlessly. Will drive you into a murderous rage and improve your boxing skills.**

Good way to train duelist, probably. Unpleasant side effect.

**The journeying ring. Makes you invisible, but increases your chance of detection if anyone gets close, and increases anger in those who detect you.**

Not quite sure what to do with that.

**Statue of Pennywise. Bound to you. Will allow Pennywise to constantly know your location and emotional state.**

How had that got there? Would have to handle that somehow.

"Maturin, can you eat this?"

"Sure, I'll take the power." I tossed it up, and heard the bloody sounds of biting, as blood dripped to the floor.

**Love potion. When drunk by yourself and another person, will induce a fanatical and bloody obsession with each other, that will normally result in death.**

Solid item choice as always.100/100 needful things, who didn't like it when your lover tried to kill you?

**Glasses of the clown. Will make everything you see look like a clown. Makes it harder to identify clowns, and leads to inappropriate laughing.**

A great tool for all the kids. I put them on and looked at Maturin. He didn't change. I looked at Cure, who now had clown paint.

"Are you immune to clown glasses?" I asked Maturin.

He didn't dignify it with an answer.

"Just for that, I am considering making it a ntr anime."

No more came. He was busy.

**A blindfold. Will remove your sight, with progressively deteriorating vision, but allow you to interact with spiritual beings and hear them. 0/1000 charges.**

Another demon release item. Could be pretty useful though, and I could regenerate sight.

Time to head back.

* * *

Mostly a loot review chapter, since I am still pretty tired from yesterday. Still, now he has new powers, new perks, and plans! The magical items were based off Needful thing items, some cool magical items I have used in campaigns, and stuff from the Rick and Morty show. They're all cursed, but curses are just blessings disguised with enough creativity.

Dragonbornthesam. I like that one a lot. Slow and steady is very much his thing.

Anon. The books are pretty awesome. I reread them a few times for this story.

Guest. Added to the poll, and an extra option to pick added.

Guest. Who needs a life when you can plan out turtle harem anime titles? It's 4 am here.

Mistersnx. Another good title.

Korlinki. The odds will always be against him, but slowly he is forging a world where he is stronger. With friends, allies, and even gods on his side.

Next time, we actually go back to Derry.


	36. Kameharem

Normally I did an after action report on everything I did after it was over. You couldn't improve if you didn't reflect on your actions.

Pain was weakness leaving the body. That was a phrase I had heard a lot in gym class. You went through painful experiences and torture, and you got stronger. That wasn't always true though. Sometimes you worked hard, and ended up injured, weaker, damaged, or dead. Or someone else paid for your mistakes.

I turned the wheel, shifting slightly as we went past the sign for the entrance into Derry. It was weird how skills ported over. All those years teaching, and I was just an advanced apprentice grade teacher, while my science skills were enough to make me a journeyman. And my driving skill was still simply apprentice grade.

Anyway, whenever I had come to places I had lied and deceived. It was instinctual. Maybe part of the gamer system? You didn't tell everyone that you had magical powers. You didn't breach the masquerade. Grave things would happen…

I'd used it well. I'd invaded the cave of a god, trusting in my skill as he stripped me of my powers, escaped, and killed and killed and killed the agents of the red till an eldritch god noticed me and befriended me, all while avoiding thinking about it on a conscious level. I had good control of my thoughts.

But there were people who could mind read me, people who could figure me out. For now, I could shield my thoughts from Georgie- but in times of stress, in times of weakness, who knew? I wasn't a great liar. I could spot lies, but I wasn't good at producing more than simple absurd ones that would fall apart on deeper inspection.

And I intended to take this big. The Dark Towers series was all connected by portals, and there were devices that would let you travel from world to world. I intended to be king. Have a community of psychics, drug lords, social manipulators, all connected across Sawland, The Dark Tower, and beyond. Linked by magic and science, fused to create something greater than either. One day I intended to make my original patron my bitch, and be the one who gave quests and rewards.

I felt a flashing pain in my- his right eye. It was happening. I was almost home but.

"It hurts!" Said Georgie. "It hurts so much." I took the pain on myself, and he sighed. "Thank you. What- I can see light."

I drove to stop at the side of the road, next to the sign in front of the Derry High school, and focused on the change. Initially it was just a field of brightness, appearing. Then blurry shapes, slowly coming into focus, as the pain reached a peak.

And we had two eyes again.

"Aren't you glad I bought **Gamer's ****B****ody** E rank now?" I now had the option of a few different systems for my abilities, courtesy of Maturin. I could keep the saw motif- apprentice, advanced apprentice, journeyman, master, grandmaster. I could go all wuxia, and have my ranks go fro B. I could have numbers. I could even go turtle style. Hatchling, junior, adult, elder, ancient turtle. The skill rankings were similar- I now knew it went common, uncommon, rare, legendary, epic, with increasing benefits for more powerful merged skills.

Georgie rubbed his new eye, and ignored me. "I can see." He picked up a sandwich from the side of our stolen car, and tossed it out of the window. It collapsed, bread, meat, and lettuce separating as they dropped to the floor.

"It worked!" He said.

"Your aim is perfect as always." I said.

"Let's go play laser tag with Bill!" He said.

"Yes, use your depth perception!"

I drove us onwards, as Georgie described all the many things he had missed doing with his brother.

Last time we'd checked, four hours ago, he'd been fine. The homeless man we had paid to watch him deserved an excellent reward. Regular phone calls to each of the public phone boxes I had found. Concise, reliable reports. I should look into him. Richard, his name was I think. Black dude.

We arrived back at Georgie's house. Door was locked.

"Do they keep a spare key anywhere?" I asked Georgie. He shook our head.

"Nope. Bill's window is open though." I looked up, and indeed, his window was open. I shifted back to Georgie size, and climbed up.

Sometime I wanted a parkour skill, but for now I was as strong as a weight lifter and weighed like 80 pounds. I easily hauled myself up a pipe, and swung into the window. I brushed my fingers over a globe, and looked up at a solar model. It contained pluto. Very inaccurate. Pluto wasn't a planet. I tore it off, tossing it up and down in my hand.

I activated **Enlightened Mind**. There was a clown picture, and I had to be sure. My senses exploded outwards, every sight, smell, and sound more intense, aided by the strength of my **Mad Scientist** skill. **Survivor** had memories of hunts across other stars and planets. **Mad Scientist** was even more intense, granting me knowledge of how to create such horrors. If Pennywise was watching me, I would see him. Or feel him.

Nothing. Well, not nothing. I could hear the flap of the birds, the drip of a leaky tap, the smell of tears and salt, the scratching of a mouse as it worked it's way through the walls. No clowns. I did hear an argument downstairs. Bill and his parents arguing. I pocketed the makeshift dwarf planet, and headed downstairs.

Bill was standing in front of a map of the Sewer Complex, gesturing at it furiously. "He could still be alive! I've looked it over, there's a lot of space there. Food too! He could be lost."

"Son… you have to accepted it." Said his father. "He's not coming back."

I let Georgie take the reins.

"Hey mom, hey dad. I'm back! What's for dinner?" Georgie said, pacing down the stairs.

Everyone looked pretty shocked. "I thought- I thought!" Said Georgie's dad. Then all of them rushed up to hug and touch him, to see if he was real. They clustered around him, crying, asking questions, hugging him and pinching his cheeks to check he was real.

I let this go on for a while, and then directed Georgie to lead them to the dining room with chairs.

"Where did you go?" Asked Bill. "What happened to you?"

Georgie spoke, hands moving fast as he tried to capture it all. "An evil sewer clown dragged me into the sewer! I thought I was dead. But I had a saviour. A magical fairy vampire came into my body- he's here with me now- and helped me fight him. And we escaped! It was disgusting, we had to use a tool made of children's bones. But I lost my eye." At the looks of his parents he shrugged. "I got better. And then we went to Illinois to get magic items and befriend a magical turtle and we killed some demon and a mean woman who hated men and I got to see Aliens and it was awesome!" He breathed. "And then the turtle became our friend and we punched that clown, pow! Then we came back here. And now we're here."

Bill stared at me. "You're telling the truth aren't you?" He said. "I can tell. You believe what you said. All of it." He said, looking intensely at- I think- me. "I sense something..."

His parents sighed. "It must have been trauma. Come on, Georgie, we're taking you to the hospital.

My mother came and grabbed my arm, tugging me. I transformed into my normal body.

"He was telling the truth. I am here. And the clown lives. I am an inter dimensional traveler. Your children- and maybe you too- are psychics of great power. I ask you, help us stop this devil clown before more lives are destroyed! Join the army of goodness, let us fight evil!"

"What did you do to my son! Bring him back!" Said his mother.

I let Georgie take over again. "Mom, it's ok. I'm here." She looked really confused, as did the dad.

"What? I don't..." Said the father, pacing back and forth.

I needed them. I needed money, I needed access, because Pennywise was a god, and I was a man, and gods cannot be defeated alone. It was time to invest in my future. I took control again, and walked up to Georgie's mother and father

"Accept my blessing." And I pushed Enlightened Mind and Clear Thinking into them. 48 perk points only, thanks to my teaching skill- 10% reduction in all costs for teaching perks.

**Teaching persuasion check succeeded!**

"You believed once- you believed in Santa, in the Easter Bunny, in the Tooth Fairy, in love, and friendship and things less practical than taxes and finances and being an adult. Break free. Believe again. Magic is real."

They collapsed to the floor, eyes rolling, as the perks took control.

Bill rushed to me, and grabbed my arm, shaking it. "What did you do?" He asked.

"I enlightened them. Adults are stupid. They believe in lies like government, taxation, civilization, and often forget that monsters lie in the dark. Monsters that don't care for their silly lies, which manipulate and destroy."

"Does enlightenment mean mind control! Stop this!"

"It's their minds doing this. I started the trip. I don't chose where it ends." I did a quick sweep over the pair. Their HP bars were fine, they'd be fine.

"Bill, do you want to protect your brother?"

He nodded. "I do. I'd do anything. I think you're telling the truth."

Georgie spoke up. "He is! It's all true."

I spoke again. "I need your all. We are going to destroy a monster, a monster more terrible than any in your horror films. It has infected this town. It's time to burn out the connection." I held up my hand.

"Are you with me?" He grabbed my hand. "To the end. If you promise to free Georgie. Take my body instead." He offered.

Well, this was awkward. I'd love to be able to body hop, but I couldn't.

"He can't." Said Georgie in my head. Crap, he'd gotten past my barriers again. He was much better at this psychic shit than me.

"I am way better. It's because adults are dumb." He said.

"Kids are way more dumber." I said.

"It's kids are dumber, not more dumber. I know that." Said Georgie.

"You got me there, you win. Kids are dumber."

I turned back to Bill.

"I know you want Georgie back. When the clown is dead, I will be gone as well. I go from world to world, saving people. I have confirmed that those I possess survive it."

He slowly nodded. "I'll help you."

"Will you be my knight? My soldier in this new war?"

He nodded.

"I will." I touched his arm, and pushed a blessing to him as well.

A new mark of Maturin formed on his arm as well. He was claimed too. Apparently, this would make it easier for Maturin to watch us and help us. He'd not been purposely ignoring me before, he had said, but he had many many responsibilities. Cost me 21 perk points, as a God level perk, but it was worth it.

His parents were standing up again.

"I saw things. Terrible things. A void. A macrovoid... there was a terribly large reptilian monster in it. They talked about vomiting and pushed me back. I saw a darkness. Such a vast darkness." Said Georgie's dad. "It was so dark." That was odd. I looked over at him with my gamer vision. No infection. I didn't think Pennywise could hide from me. Not that strong. Weird.

"I'll help you. We have to stop him. We can't let It attack again." He said. "I saw it. It was terrible. I can't let anyone face that."

"Let's kill the clown!" I said. I claimed them both in Maturin's name as well.

The turtle king's army had begun.

* * *

An army is gathered, a mark shared, and battlelines drawn. All the while, a clown prepares to go to war.

Dragonbornthesam. Fun idea, but this is a classless system. You build your character with your selection of perks and attributes. Could be a perk later when he gets stronger magic. At the moment, he mostly just has stuff like the items- mental magic. Cheap and simple. He could still get something to pied piper animals though.

Watermelonninja. He is sadly not Peter Parker.

Guest. And in this chapter, the harem expands further.

Randomnerdotaku. Very Japanese.


	37. Battlelines Drawn

Megatron v2 was gonna be here soon. I pulled on the welding goggles, and began to weld the thick panel of steel to the front. I checked the gas flow, good, solid flow. The metal sheets were well clamped, medium thickness and ready to to be added.

Welding wasn't a simple matter of applying flame, then the things joined. You needed just the right power level, you needed to grind down the metal, you needed to make sure it was all still, you needed a good motion. You needed to control your shakes.

I put my elbow on the table, and began sewing the two sheets of metal together. Back and forth, back and forth, working with the flow. The hot gas seared the metal sheets together, making a firm link.

I triggered mad scientist's special ability.

Mad scientist. You see much more than most, and you have begun to master the art of mixing art and science in the world, seeing impossibilities and creating them. You are used to using such creations in the field. Once a day you can ensure a creation has a rare property of your choice.

Megatron was ready. They were a big, bulky thing. Shaped like a large traffic cone, with some pointy bits. I had layed thick steel around them, there to protect them from damage, and given them a pair of arms, one with a belt felt machine gun on it, the other with a flamethrower. Radios looted from toy cars had provided the fairly simple brain, tweaked a bit by a bought robotic skill. Thick metal wheels hid under his metal skirt, there to ride him over all terrain types.

He had a very simple machine brain. It was wired into infra red goggles, crude ones you could buy in this day and age, resting over his metallic noggin, which could aim for heat.

He was my counter to Pennywise. I couldn't get an army, not on short notice. But, I could design a weapon that a kid could pilot, that could hurt him. I was preparing to make an army, and armies needed tanks.

**Megatron v2. A robotic creation by you, designed to defeat Pennywise. Durability, 1000/1000. Armor, 20. Special property- symbol of faith. 0/100 charges.**

This was designed to be empowered by the ka-tek of the group. To soak up luck charges. It wouldn't have been possible without convincing Bill and Georgie's parents to pay up. I hoped it would work.

* * *

"To Dick Hallorann!" I said, raising a glass of beer to the supposedly homeless man who had relayed messages about Bill to me.  
"Why did you think I was homeless?" He asked. I looked him over. Thick beard, tatty clothes, everything he owned in a backpack.

"The smell." I said.

He glared. "You try tracking down bad shines and find a good shower in every place you go to."

I had taken him to a pub nearby. It was a quaint little place, with cheap wooden chairs and tables, a tv blaring some sports event, and a small crowd of regulars ignoring us as they got drunk midday.

He spoke again, after a long drink. "I could sense what the two of you were doing. I can see you, a bit. I knew I should help. I met It once."

I nodded. "The black spot. I did the research. Never thought anyone got away." The club, one for black soldiers, had been burnt down by IT.

"I did. You think you can kill It?" He was a powerful psychic. He'd been in the doctor sleep film. His daddy was abusive, and so he locked his ghost and other ghosts in a box and weaponized them.

I showed him my fist. "I'll make the bastard eat this."

* * *

I handed over the remote controls. Megatron was standing tall, now with a megatron mask I had bought from a toy store, and Bill and the Loser gang were looking at it.

"Is that an m60 machine gun?" Asked Mike. "It is. Why do you have an m60 machine gun strapped to a bunch of pieces of scrap metal?" He poked it.

There was Bill, the little brown haired bro of Georgie, the psychic leader. Eddie, who had a crazy mother who pretended he was sick. Ben, the fat comic relief character. Richie, the boy who feared being lost. Stanley, the skeptical jew. Mike Hanlon, the black kid targetted by bullies and Pennywise due to racial bias. And Beverley. In the books she'd had a weird orgy to help them beat up IT, and Stephen King was very defensive about how great that was. They hadn't included that in the film because it would horrify people.

"It's yours now. It's because there's an evil clown god you need to kill."

Stanley walked up to my chest, currently the short Georgie version, and tapped it. "Magic isn't real. It's just a hoax made to exploit gullible people. What are you playing at?"

I put both my hands on my side. "Why can't you just believe me! I'm so offended." I wasn't.

He glared at me. "You mocking me." Bill was about to step in, but I waved him back. Stanley continued. "I've heard the adults talking. A lot think you were touched in the head after getting lost in the sewers. There have been others."

I nodded. "Sure. Maybe I'm crazy. You willing to bet on it?"

He looked at me curiously. "What do you mean."

I spoke. "If I can prove magic is real, you need to bow to me and call me-" Georgie injected. "Captain Georgie of The USS Sulaco!"

"Deal. And when I win." He said, as the others watched with interest the fight. "You need to tell everyone magic isn't real, and say it's a lie." I spat on my hand, and held it out.

"Deal." he spat on his hand, and shook it. Disease resistance sadly did not tick up.

I took a handful of dirt, and used it to make a floating clown with my Earth control. "Bow down to me, I am a god." He swept his hand around, poked it, tried to disrupt it.

"That's impossible."

"That is magic."

I then transformed into a full grown man, and grinned at him.

"Have fun. My name is Captain Georgie now."

* * *

"Look away now." I told Georgie. I pressed the knife to my chest.

"I can't look away, I'm in my body! Ewww!" He said, as I sliced open a little gash. 1 damage ticked over. The pain was pretty intense, like a fire burning away your flesh, but I could deal. I kept it away from Georgie

I soaped up my hands really really well, and pushed the radio in.

"We need this. If we get abducted again, they need a way to track this."

"Are we gonna get through this?" I nodded. "Together."

The wound quickly closed. Soon it would be invisible, and I would have a secret weapon. I was ready for a surprise.

* * *

I was sitting on the roof of Bill and Georgie's house, with Bill. The pair of us played catch, tossing a ball back and forth, with Georgie in main control.

**Thrown weapons levels up! Thrown weapons level up!**

You could merge skills into other skills. Since I was due to be stuck in a toilet with nothing but what was on some random person's body, I was hoping to add thrown weapons to duelist. I was level 52 by now. Georgie and Bill played a lot of catch.

"I feel really good about this." Said Bill, doing a high ball.

I felt my body jerk as Georgie grabbed it, and tossed low.

"We have lots of weapons. Radios, guns, explosives. We can explode the clown. They'll go boom. Like Alien."

"How did you get to see alien?"

When it came, I didn't get any notification. I didn't hear anything, see anything. I felt a sudden choking sensation around my neck. I quickly faded out as I saw a mutated, twisted werewolf wearing faded Levi jeans grab Bill. He was wearing a high school jacket, in red and orange. In his pocket was a snot stained silk scarf, with a few words on it. DERRY DROPOUTS SCHOOL KILLING TEAM. Below this, the name Henry Bower. & in the center, a number: 13.

I grabbed a knife by my side, and rammed it into my choking captor, as Bill stabbed his. Silver knives. We had them ready. I felt a wet thud, and looked up. Amanda? Brown hair, sweat and all. She was choking me. The knife had gone in, but she hadn't stopped. The blood dripped. What was happening? I felt my head start to fade.

I had to save Bill. I triggered a burst of strength. I kicked the roof. As I was tugged away, as the world faded, the tiles beneath the werewolf that had replaced Henry Bowers slipped, and he slid off the roof. My vision started to fade.

* * *

I was tied to a chair. A steel one. Tight ropes. My right hand handcuffed, my left hand tied down. My head felt groggy. I looked up. I was on a steel roundabout, the chair bolted down. Georgie's parents were to my left and right, Beverley Marsh's father was opposite me, Sonia Kaspbrak, the sick kid's mother, was opposite to my left, and a man I didn't know was sitting to my left forward. There were numbers under my hand we could press, and a knife by my left hand.

At the center were five glass cylinders, leading downwards. We were in the Sewers, IT's cave probably. We were trapped.

As I woke, I heard a buzzing sound. To my right was a TV. It flicked on. Pennywise's face appeared, wearing Jigsaw's puppet face paint. "I want to play a game!" He said with a grin.

How did Pennywise know about Saw? Were we in a trap?

* * *

Back to Saw contraptions. Next chapter will wrap this up, and we can see how Pennywise and John Kramer see each other. All the prep will come into play, as the transformed creatures appear.

JakewjElliot. Alien v predator is awesome, and he should totally go play sometime.

Watermelonninja. Many possibilities. He takes powers based on what others use. Notably, Pennywise is using summons now. Others will as well.

Mistersnx. Yeah, if you are possessing someone it's a lot easier if they can handle themselves. Georgie seemed solid. It's a pity he got horribly murdered in the original. Now he has a chance to save his owner.

Randomnerd. I liked your name.

Guest. Nah, we have to go through all the saw films.

Next time, the final confrontation. And then, back to Saw.


	38. A long awaited conclusion

A lot of people got the point of a castle wrong. It was good for defence, but that wasn't why it was there. A castle is a place of safety. It's extremely expensive to siege it so you can go back into your castle hide away from the enemy and then leave to raid their vulnerable supply lines. Castle's biggest benefit was as a staging point.

I was in Pennywise's castle but it didn't get the reason to have a castle. It was much stronger in this location of his power, much more able to act in the world against the status quo. It could use the most powerful fear magic. Maturin had confirmed that this was how his power worked. If Sewer Clown was a smart villain, it would be using it to attack my vulnerable supply lines. Instead, it had launched a raid out of it to capture little old me.

And with Amanda? And Jigsaw? I hadn't seen that coming but that didn't change anything. Jigsaw was extremely good at capturing people and setting traps, but he also had a spirit of fairness that meant you stood a good chance of escaping his traps. None of the traps in Saw 1 or 2 were unavoidable- if the people had cooperated, there were ways they could have escaped, and his traps were just steel and plastic at the end, I could break them. Amanda might be a bit worse on her own, but I had a hard counter to her ready.

Regardless, I didn't have to survive forever. I knew I wasn't safe. I knew Pennywise could come after me at any time with overwhelming force. I was ready to destroy his supply lines, as he focused all of his attention on me and I had cavalry coming to rescue me. I was in the heart of his castle, the place of his strength, and he was gonna pay for that. I just had to keep him interested and focused on me.

I carefully shut down the emotional control aspect of Gamer's Mind.

I saw Pennywise in his white makeup, wearing an old suit, with a bow tie, with that circular cheek makeup that Jigsaw loved, with that thin dark hair hanging lose, I felt my pulse race, my fingers go sweaty. I could die here.

I checked the party interface and it was locked off except for my body's parents. Figures. All alone.

I looked around some more. I was the first up- toxin resistance or Gamer's body, one had fast healed me. Pennywise was there next to a big red series of buttons bolted into the cave wall.

So, arms. My left arm was tied up and next to the knife and a keypad- disabled, looking at the wiring. I imagined the intention was that we would get the knife and ram it into the rope at an awkward angle and cut ourselves. I had **flexible bones**. I dislocated my fingers, and with a bit of lost skin and effort managed to yank my hand free.

**Strength check succeeded- 18/15**

I grabbed the knife, and checked the lock of the handcuffs. They were too tight- painfully tight. That was- oh crap. I was getting too nonchalant about pain. There were sharp spikes coming out from them, facing inwards, now dripping with some of my blood. If I tried to yank them off, I'd slice up my arm. Might be worth it but... There was one on my wrist… two on my lower arm… two higher up. I was locked down pretty hard to the chair. It's almost like they didn't trust me. The others weren't locked down this much. Chair was steel, I couldn't rip it with raw strength.

I summoned a lockpick with **Lockpick** and got to work with on the top handcuff. This would be easier if I had the perk that let me cut off limbs but you couldn't have everything.

"They won't be able to hear me. It's sad eating adults. Their flesh- no fear. No imagination in them. I can kill them of course, but it's boring. The meat, ugh. No taste." Pennywise made peh sounds above me, spittle flying over me. I shivered. "This little contraption- well. It will change things." Said Pennywise to me, as he stroked his hands over my head.

"I- I-" I meant to say some witty catch phrase, but I found my hand shaking, my voice shaking I couldn't-" Pennywise leaned down, and licked my face, his slimy tongue raw on my face.

"Tasty." He said, before moving on.

Shit. I dropped the lockpick. I had 19 perk points left in the tank. I had used a lot to prep for this war. I didn't know he'd bring Jigsaw in, but I was ready for something. 6 more on the upgraded gacha perk, and I got a paper clip. I got back to work, breathing slow to keep my hand steady.

The others were starting to wake up and as they moaned and groaned and asked where they were I kept on going at freeing myself.

Georgie's mother looked up, blinking. "Where are we?" She struggled against her bonds. Sharon Denbrough. Pianist, not the most useful skill for escaping traps. But she had my clear and enlightened mind perks so she should be stable.

Pennywise licked her as well. She shrieked, and looked up. "Who- what is that?" She said looking side to side, eyes racing, pulse racing.

Pennywise spoke. "That fear- well, I could get used to this. There's a certain rigidity to it, a lack of imagination- but you'll fill me up just fine. This mechanized fear works even on adults."

I needed them as allies. I didn't know the others. Using the knife, I quickly freed Sharon, and spoke to her. "There's a knife there, be ready, I'll save you."

I turned to my side. Zack Denbrough. Georgie's papa. Electrician, he'd helped me on wiring megatron and with my party present for Jigsaw. A bit more unstable than his wife.

"Let me out! Let me out!" He said, straining against his ropes, his skin flushed.

"Zack! It's Georgie. I need you!" I said.

He focused on me. "I can't get out! I can't get out!" And kept struggling.

I opened the party interface. Maturin had given me a few upgrades.

New game

**Stats**

**Perks**

**Ka-tet**

**Options**

Mental mind click on Ka-tet. New game was still greyed out.

**Khef/ Personal upgrades**

**Ka tel/ Party interface**

**Dinh/ Community upgrades**

Party interface, mental mind click.

**Zack Denbrough**

**Stat box removed, since you have bigger issues right now.**

**Current emotional state. Terrified.**

**Activate chat, voice or text, y/n?**

**Activate abilities**

**Clear thinking (1/day)**

**Enlightened mind (1/day)**

**Mark of Maturin (0 charges)**

I could remotely trigger his abilities now since he was a party member. With a thought I activated Clear Thinking and Enlightened Mind giving him a moment of supreme clarity with 10 extra wisdom making him slightly, but not much more, wise than an average person.

He got a dazed look in his eyes as enlightenment struck.

Sharon spoke. "Just remember the symphony. Let it calm you- he can help."

He started humming Beethoven's fifth, as I sliced his rope and freed it. I had agile hands. I managed to slice the rope off without slicing him up.

As I did, Pennywise pushed forward a small tv stand. Everyone looked.

On it, Jigsaw, in Pennywise makeup, spoke.

"Welcome and greetings. I suspect all of you wonder where you are. You are in the sewers, but your location is unimportant. What is important is that each of you are terrible people. Alvin Marsh, you molest and beat your daughter, all while pressuring her to stay pure because you have no purity yourself. Sonia Kaspbrak, you poison your child for attention, never making anything of value. Johannas Creman, you pushed down reports of murder and corruption in this town because of bribes from the mayor, wasting them on expensive luxuries. Zack Denbrough, your anger and emotion issues make you a poor father, and a poorer electrician. Sharon Denbrough, you wasted your talent as a pianist to become a housewife, and sit at home watching drivel and make nothing of yourself.

One is not terrible. Georgie, a child with a deep fascination with the solar system, exploring, and making things. There are buttons on your chair. Each round, when you press them- one to six, counter-clockwise starting at Johannas, one of you will die. If you wait, you will die. As a child, Georgie's vote does not count. Will you sacrifice a child to save yourselves? If your vote is not enough, add weight to your tube. Whoever sacrifices most will win the vote. Make your choice. You have one minute." And the video stopped.

I finished unlocking the first handcuff. Resting the knife on my lap, I gently eased it off, put it on my lap. Center of our trap, pipes for a bit of extra weight, ready for people to slice off limbs and stick them in.

Sharon spoke up. "We can't kill a child- our son. Why not kill a rapist? Alvin Marsh. You sick fucker." She spat at him.

He spoke back. "She lied about that. Little whore. I knew I shouldn't let her out. I say we kill the kid." He had been bound like me with ropes on one hand and handcuffs on the other. He had yanked one hand free, left some skin, and was shaking his fist at me.

"He got us in this, I bet!"

I was almost done on the second handcuff. Georgie spoke to me. "You can handle this right?"

"I'm gonna need all your belief later. Luck is gonna save us." Georgie nodded in my head, and hid behind my Gamer's mind wall, while I got to deal with locks and wet pants.

We had a few seconds left. Everyone had voted and I was pretty sure I was the target.

I used my trump card. I tossed my handcuffs in my mother's glass tube. Intention was probably to sacrifice body parts, but weight traps worked with weight, not blood. They really hadn't been that creative when they saw this trap in Saw 6. Toss your clothes in at least, you idiots. The handcuffs clattered down it, as Alvin started to swear.

"Oh shit! He said. There was a pounding hydraulic sound, as his chair opened up, long with his back. He screamed, as his back was opened up, blood dripping out, tendrils of broken flesh hanging down. And he screamed.

Almost there- I felt Pennywise behind me. He grabbed the roundabout trap we were all stuck in. He was about to spin it! I activated clear thinking as his inhuman strength started to spin us all. Almost there- there. The second handcuff was about to-

**Dex check faile-**

I didn't read the rest, as we span around. The blades on the handcuffs dug into my flesh painfully. Blood dripped down my arm. The paperclip spun out of my hands to the floor. Clear mind, butter fingers. As we slowed though, my head wasn't swimming so I triggered my Gachaman perk on Sharon, and pulled out a hairpin from her hair, a common item of my choice, and got to work again on the third lock. 7 perk points left.

Two parents vs two voters. Weight would determine things now.

Johannas immediately got to work. He'd gotten the knife from his side, and was slicing and cutting up pieces of Alvin and tossing it into his glass tube, a bloody and slow job.

He spoke, his voice distorted. "I'm not gonna kill a kid- but the father sounds useless. No will, no focus, emotional."

Crap. I couldn't save my- his parents in time. I didn't have time.

"Trigger the perk." I told Georgie.

"It costs so much!"

"Do it anyway."

**Lucky arrival. Using your base luck, twist the lines of fate so that aid arrives faster. Uses Ka-tek charges and your base luck score. Powerful foes can delay this. Current time reduction with max ka-tek charges, 35 minutes.**

I urged Bill to rush closer. I'd armed him. We were currently the silly adults who needed the smart kids to save them. We still had some luck charges left. You got 1 per hour per group, and it had been a week. 100 charges burnt to rush them to us. 70 left.

I managed to get the third lock off, on my upper arm. I had a bit more flexibility now. Two more to go. I needed to stop him.

I took one of the handcuffs, and tossed it at him. He grabbed it out of the air, and tossed it in his tube.

Well, that was less effective than I'd hoped.

I glanced at the corridor exit. No one was coming. The body parts were sliding down the tube, making his vote count for more, bloody flesh sliding down. I needed an edge.

I looked over at the chairs, trying to find an out. I could start slicing at myself- cut off my hand. But I had two handcuffs off. I'd need to lose a lot of arm. I'd bleed out.

"Please, don't let my parents die!" said Georgie. Georgie's father let out a scream, and tried to shake his way out of the chair.

I didn't know- oh, yeah. "Give me the knife!" I told Sharon. She paused for a second. "I'm not gonna cut myself" I promised. "And then she handed it to me.

I had over 50 ranks in throwing. And with my upgraded luck, I could see my chance of hitting my target. A coin toss. I activated my luck perk, gaining +10 luck, tossed in 25 of my stored luck points to stack the decks, and turned on the other luck perk.

**Stacked decks. When facing imminent death, you cheat and find a way to survive, once a day. A substantial increase in success in times of extreme danger. 3 perk points.**

I tossed the knife at the wiring for the voting keypad for Johannas, slicing apart the wires. Million to one chance. All that blood, useless now because he hadn't voted first.

Meanwhile, I got to work on the third handcuff. I think I had this one I could do it faster.

Pennywise strolled over to me.

"You little cheat. Breaking the game." It grabbed my hair, and slammed me down against the chair's steel frame. Stars flooded my vision.

**100 damage done by Pennywise's punch.**

I shook my head. I had a bit left, because I had kept all my HP from my previous levels up. 10 HP left. I felt woozy.

Brain damage! 30% debuff on mental and physical stats. Partially negated by gamer's body and gamer's mind.

I activated desperate struggle, clearing the remaining debuff, and popped off the next handcuff. One to go.

Pennywise was walking to his console, on the wall.

"He told me to use this if they misbehaved, well, lets see." He grinned back at me, and pressed one of the red buttons.

A bear trap erupted around It's hand and foot. The blades stabbed into It, making his clown skin bleed.

"Betrayal! How could you- Kramer." Pennywise said, looking at Johannas.

Oh, that was them. Well that was obvious. With the name, and how he spoke- in my defense, I was distracted by being trapped by a sewer clown and a mentally ill cancer patient.

Pennywise tried to yank his way out but the trap proved more durable than it expected.

**A well designed grandmaster trap is opposing a demigod level entity! You have ten seconds.**

I was prompted. I got to work on my final handcuff.

Pennywise giggled, and spoke. "I guess I'll just come for you then." It reached out his free arm, and reached out for me. It's arm extended, impossibly far, getting closer, and closer, reaching for my neck… or not. Them. It grabbed my mother's neck and squeezed. I could hear the bones grind as she choked out her breath. I heard Georgie scream in my head, saw her look at me, mouthing words.

I needed out now.

I dislocated the bones in my hand, and yanked out the final handcuff. The spiked raked my hand bloody, and stuck in my arm. Fuck. I had to break my promise. With little hesitation, I took the knife, activated inhuman strength, and slammed it down on my wrist, breaking bone and flesh as I ripped off my hand. It'd grow back. I got off the chair, and leapt at Pennywise, still flush with strength.

I smacked It in the face, channeled the power of Maturin, and started the Ritual of Chud. I had burnt offerings before, doing the ritual with my new **Magic User **perk as it was time for me to serve as a distraction. I needed a sacrifice of my own to trigger it, and tossed in my 7 remaining luck points. The tattoo of the turtle burned, as a memory that wasn't mind flashed through my surface thoughts.

* * *

Elsewhere.

Ben, Richie, Stan, and Eddie sat together legs over the waterfall, green trees bright behind them, a big box of military hardware. They oohed and ahhed as they ate sticky sweats meant to stain teeth with sugary goodness, legs with naught but shorts waving over the edge.

A massive explosion erupted in front of them. An improvised grenade, the components bought by Bill's parents and upgraded by that strange man inside Georgie's mind exploded, sending streams of colour throughout the air.

Richie laughed. "You call that a grenade? This is a grenade." He said, doing a Paul Hogan impression. He took out a stick of dynamite, lit the end, took the controller for Megatron, and tossed the stick.

Megatron aimed their gun, and fired a burst of gunfire, aiming after the heat source. The gunfire detonated the explosive, sending a ripple of heat and shrapnel through the air. The boys whooped and cheered.

Richie thumbed his radio and spoke to Beverley on it. "What's the delay with the bigger weapons? Did a clown eat you? Over."

Beverley spoke back. "Eat a bag of dicks, over."

Richie laughed, and stuck a big sticky purple sweet in his mouth. The radio buzzed again.

"They're coming for us! The clowns are coming!" Said Ben. Everyone looked at each other, and murmured nervously.

Everyone picked up their guns, off the red white and blue Captain America themed picnic basket, and looked in every direction nervously.

Will spoke. "Do you think these guns will work? The man didn't describe the clown very well. It could be anything."

Stan shrugged "How? We don't even know what to look for. He wasn't a very good Gandalf. He got us guns, but didn't even train us well."

All of them shook their heads at this. Eddie let off a rattle of gunfire into the trees.

"I saw something! I saw something" He said. Everyone turned in that direction. Out of the trees stepped a very sick looking person. Their flesh drooped off, flies buzzed over open wounds, and an instant smell of death and decay wafted off them. They had a few bullet holes in them, dripping congealed blood.

"Steve?" Asked Eddie, stepping back- "You're- no, I remember the song Macgyver gave me. Disease makes you bleed, fire makes it recede! Die clown Steve!"

He tried to fire, judged the kick back poorly, dropped his gun, a bullet going off and bouncing into the forest. He then picked up the controller for the robot, span the robot around, and pointed them at Steve.

"Come give me a hug"

Said Steve, opening his hands, walking forward very slowly. As they moved, fire rushed out from the robot's flamethrower, engulfing and burning them. Steve screamed, and twisted and burned as the hot fire rushed over them. As though there had been a mirage, their legs vanished, replaced by eight spider like legs. They pottered around, screaming, and collapsed, the smell of burnt diseased flesh making everyone gag.

From the woods emerged another emerged. A woman, whose face looked a lot like Gard, another one of Henry Bower their bully's face, one with elongated nails and fingers, and a twisted face. Stanley stepped back, his hands shaking, letting off a nervous flurry of bullets. Elongated necks, crooked faces and empty eyes stared back at him, his horror, a terrifying painting come to life.

"Paint may be pretty, but fire burns you quickly!" he said, taking the controller. Bad art proportions were no defense against the automatic firepower of Megatron, who set her on fire. Her skin melted like oil, and she collapsed to the ground, rolling, spider legs emerging from her lower body.

Two more emerged. An Egyptian mummy, covered in bandages, and a corpse of Richie with a found picture on the front. Two more fears, both extremely vulnerable to flames. Spider legs emerged from their lower bodies as well, the illusion dispelled.

Ben spoke. "This is… weird. How do their legs even support them? The physics shouldn't work like that.

"Magic." said Richie.

Ben glared at him. "That's not an explanation!" He said.

Richie shrugged. "A wizard did it?."

As they spoke, the four monsters started to finish rolling, putting out the fire, their flesh not so damaged as to prevent movement. They got up again.

The four boys opened fire. They fired gunshots, tossed grenades, drew out weapon after weapon from the box, sending ripples of fire and death into them. Each shot hit, each blast touched, but none put them down. Their wounds faded, and they kept moving closer, and closer.

The boys backed right up to the cliff. "On three-" Said Richie

"One-"And he jumped in.

"You bastard" Said Stanly. He pressed a button on the controlled for Megatron, and jumped as well.

The other two followed shortly after. I had packed Megatron with a lot of explosives. He wasn't that maneuverable, and wasn't especially effective. I'd added some metals to make it pretty colours, some fireworks.

* * *

The vision faded, as I saw them pick up a radio. Bill had a way to get them to the clown! I had given everyone my tattoo, and we were all linked. They were coming for me. As were others. I came back to the present.

I stared into Pennywise's eyes. It'd cracked my power like a hand cracked a bubble before. Now I had the ritual on my side. I pressed my blood dripping hand against It, stemming the flow, and shoved It against the wall, as my will smashed against its. I wasn't alone any more. I had Cure, Georgie, Sharon, Zack, Eve, and Ethan with me now. We were linked with a second family of seven. We had this.

Its will cracked back into him, a toxic feedback hurting It more than me. I slammed them into the stone wall, the trap coming with them in a flow of black blood, my accelerated healing already stemming the blood flow on my wrist, slowing the dropping of my very meager health.

"I know you have the turtle backing you. It won't matter. I prepared." Said Pennywise.

And then from a side corridor, Amanda stepped, in all her horrifying glory. That was unfair. I was meant to be using pure willpower to hold back IT, he wasn't supposed to have a minion stab me in the back while we were mind dueling.

Kramer wasn't interfering at least. Pushing Pennywise against the wall with my blood soaked arm stump, I grabbed at my throat and ripped out a card. From that store I had gotten many magical items, and this one was a doozy. Picture of Elvis wrapped in an anti magic plastic wrap, Gave the viewer an addictive orgy with Elvis Presley.

"Take this, you fucking addict." I said. I slipped off the protective cover, felt the effect heighten, and tossed it at Amanda's face. She grabbed it, and instantly collapsed, spider legs coming out of her lower body.

"You're a cheap copy!" I said, and spat at her. Then I turned back to Pennywise. "I don't fear you, or any of your tricks. My friends crushed your babies. They'll crush you too. Pennywise laughed, a hacking laugh, and I felt the pressure against me increase. Where before it had been a tap against my mental barriers, now, it was a constant pressure.I felt cracks start to form.

I saw the enormity of the deadlights, began to see what he really was.

"They killed a few of my babies." I have lots more. He clicked his fingers. His head exploded in a mess of blood, as Ethan stepped forward a shotgun in hand, breaking his stealth. Behind him Eve came, and behind Eve, came a long and endless horde of corpses.

I had guessed some of Pennywise's babies might be coming. He had this massive pile of corpses ready. What for? Well, now they were zombies under my command, not baby clowns. While I was at the center of his castle, his farmlands had been razed and burnt for my army.

A child with blonde ragged hair, teeth dropped out, flesh dripping, screamed. "You killed me!" And charged at Pennywise, smashing their fist into him. It was a hard, wet thud, the sort you only get with strength beyond mortal forms.

It was my time to ambush him while having a mind duel.

* * *

I mean, Kramer obviously wasn't gonna let Pennywise go free without trapping him once at least. That's his whole thing. Pennywise is not the smartest clown in the sewer.

It is canon lore that Pennywise is a female spider with lots of babies. I decided that the way she would grow them would be inside children corpses they murdered. Now, those corpses are zombies, and they want vengeance for being murdered.

Thorison1080. Well, it's a double crossover now.

Guest. The ramming shall continue.

Watermeloninja. Pennywise just summoned Kramer, as his scene showed. Amandawise was pumped up on sewer clown magic and did a stealthy super strength ambush.

Many others. It comes. The story is back, and the new stories await. Soon.

Next time, the conclusion, and into Saw 3.


	39. Sucks being an NPC

The bloody head of Pennywise looked around, a massive hole ripped in it through the shotgun hole. This was my plan. Eve and Ethan use my stealth perk, steal his corpse reserves, and ambush her with a massive zombie army.

I'd planned for her (Pennywise would get that pronoun now, since baby spiders, although I wasn't really great at consistent pronoun use since the actor was male, they were IT, and debately they were female) to have minions. I'd assumed it would be humans, like before when she got a bunch of thugs from Chicago, but I guess she was using his kids instead. Time to crush the clown.

A wave of the children she had slain advanced on the clown, the inhuman strength of their infected zombies. With a swish of his body, he transformed into a massive hulking form, the black armor covered form of the Alien.

**Pennywise (alien) 10,000 HP, effectively infinite reserves. Pennywise has called upon the most widely known armor horror to gain more combat force.**

Fifteen feet tall, head long, mouth dripping acid. They swished their tail as I darted back, and around them sliced in half a dozen of the zombies, their organs visible inside. The top halves fell to the floor, and she laughed.

Then they pulled their lower forms back to themselves, the flesh knitting as threads of fungi knitted them back together. Heading forward once more they lunged at Pennywise, grappling with his massive limbs. He was very strong, but so were Melded zombies. His massive tail was grappled by five of them, another three for each limb, the brutish physics breaking strength of resident evil zombies and their own hate of the one who murdered them letting them overpower him.

They were losing though. They couldn't do any real damage, and acid and powerful blows were slicing apart more each second.

I'd been ready for this. "This is for our first encounter, sewer clown." I had 8 inventory slots free, and they fit one big item.

Metal and plastic and glass formed around me, as a forklift manifested around me, tweaked with sharp steel poles. I gunned it, the smell of engine oil hot around me, and drove forward into Pennywise, feeling a thud shake through my body as the vehicle rammed forward and the metal picked the massive body off the ground "I know your tricks."

**Temporary form disruption! 10% stat debuff to mental and physical stats.**

Blood splattered out of her body, acid hot, dripping on the glass of the forklift. I'd reinforced this one though. Flurocarbon plastic sheeting, immune to acids. Some of the kids burnt.

As I drove across the rough floor, Ethan took several shots at Pennywise, advancing forward with his shotgun, the sound loud enough to pop my child ears.

"Ow" I said. Pennywise looked pretty torn up. Head lopping off, hanging out loose like a broken black sausage. I glanced back at the scene behind me. Some of the zombie kids had went to free- oh, and kill- those left on the roundabout. Bye bye Sonia. I saw one crack her neck, at my orders.

**Level up!**

Yay minions.

Pennywise said something. I saw Eve look shocked at the sound. I quickly turned on subtitles from the option menu.

"-not the real one at all. A fake. Let me show you" Pennywise tried to yank herself out of the forklift, but as this was how the Alien Queen in Aliens had been defeated, she just looked like a fool.

She grimaced.

I spoke. "Time for Maturin to add you to his harem. Ready to be his bottom bitch?"

Pennywise stared at me with utter hatred, and then laughed.

I felt the ritual of chud magic inside me act up, as a massive wave of power ran out of him.

**Gamer's Mind Collapse- **

I saw ghostly images of Pennywise all around. The Creature from the Black Lagoon, a rubber masked sea monster, Nosferatu, an ugly vampire creature. And I felt a sharp pain. My mind was burning like hot fire. My vision blurred, and I slumped to the side, falling out of the forklift to the stone floor.

Pennywise stood before me, suddenly. I could smell the blood, but I couldn't see any wounds.

He grabbed my neck, tensed his hands, and spoke. "You won't taste as good, but you're better off dead."

And he snapped my neck.

**You have died! You escaped IT's lair. Why did you go back you idiot? Death penalties imposed. **

I was standing in front of the sewer. My head still burnt. I couldn't focus. My neck hurt. I felt dizzy. I had children hands. It was day.

Pennywise was in front of me. He was wearing a baggy silk suit with great big orange buttons. A bright tie, electric-blue, flopped down his front, and on his hands were big white gloves, like the kind Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck always wore.

"You'll float too." And he reached out, hands impossibly long, and snapped my neck again.

**You have died! You didn't even make it out of the tutorial. Death penalties imposed. **

This time it was worse. I flopped to the ground like a puppet with it's strings cut. I couldn't even resist as Pennywise ran a nail down my back, and bit into my head.

Why wasn't I- I couldn't hear Georgie.

**You have died! **I- **You have died!You have died!You have died!You have died!You have died!You have died!You have died!You have died!You have died!You have died!You have died!You have died!You have died!You have died!You have died!You have died!You have died!You have died!You have died!You have died!You have died!You have died!You have died!**

I couldn't escape it. Every loop, the pain was just too much. I flopped to the floor, head burning, died, and revived again with just enough energy to die again. I glanced at a status modifier flashing near me.

**Complete mental and physical collapse. Your body has been bruised and broken to the point of collapse. 100% status debuff. **

Pennywise sometimes spoke, sometimes tore. He ripped off my limbs, ate them in front of me, pounded my head in, ripped out my heart.

Why couldn't I hear Georgie.?

Pennywise pulled me up to a sitting position, and sat me next to him, arm around me.

"I can do this forever, you know. Every time I'll break you down a little more, till you give me Maturin on a plater. A hundred deaths? A thousand. It's like one of your video games. I saw that in your mind. You liked seeing all those deaths. You watched compilations of Lara Croft dying. Now it's you? Isn't that hilarious? Well, time for your next one."

He grabbed my arm, and started to tug. I panicked. I tried to pull away, breathing fast, my body weak, unable to resist. I wanted to die.

Something was missing. I blinked. I tried to trigger my strength perk. It didn't work. The charge hadn't regenerated. This was the same day!

I needed to get out of here. I focused my will and effort, pushing past the feeling of jagged glass in every bit of my body. and triggered my luck perk.

**Hint of fate. You are closely connected to the currents of fate. Once a day, you can ask for one common sense fate question to a current situation. The advice will advance your destiny and never lead directly to death.**

"Maturin, I need an evac now. Where are you?" He could find where I was based off that. The best use of the luck perk was not advice, but being able to chat to divine beings who controlled fate.

Pennywise smiled. "I heard that message. I can feel where his power is. He shouldn't have invested himself into you. Shape is form, form is reality, and you are his avatar. Now, I will eat you and eat him." His mouth distended, face rolling back, as he lowered his teeth to my arm tattoo. I shivered, my broken and abused muscles.

A flash of light stabbed into his head. I looked up, barely capable of even that movement. Bill, Sharon and Zack stood there, Bill with a nail gun in his hand, Sharon armed with the bear trap Jigsaw had used, still dripping with blood. He pointed it at Pennywise and fired several more psychic nails, slamming Pennywise down.

"G-G-Get off him!" Shouted Bill.

Zack rushed to my side, and pulled me away as Sharon screamed and began smashing the bear trap on Pennywise's face. It seemed to actually hurt them! I looked closer.

**Grandmaster level beartrap. 341/500 HP. 50 armor. Special property. Mystical disruption, disrupts the power of divine entities. **

That was helpful.

She screamed at Pennywise. "You're not taking my son away again!" As she repeatedly smashed the bear trap into Pennywise's face. Her hand was bleeding, but Pennywise looked worse.

**Pennywise has taken true status disrupted form! 50% debuff to mental and physical stats.**

"It won't save you" Pennywise said.

I felt another smashing pulse of will, overwhelmingly strong. But this one met something unstoppable. Georgie stretched his will over mine, and took the blast. His latent psychic powers, running in his family protected me as the waves of power rushed over us.

"Stop him. You know the plan!" He said, his voice pained.

"I will."

**Ka-tek disrupted! Bond destroyed. Georgie knocked unconscious.**

I was ripped out of the fear vision, and was back in the forklift. All the children zombies had collapsed, no doubt caught in horrors of their own, as had Georgie's parents. Eve and Ethan had been knocked out cold, the strength of Pennywise greater than what they could muster.

My mind and body felt empty and dead. I'd lost too much blood, and had my mind battered and broken by Pennywise's power.

He had taken some backlash.

**Power exhausted. 30% loss of mental and physical stats. 10% remaining.**

Ooh, additive debuff stacking. That was new. And weird. Not quite sure why that was happening. They normally stacked like multipliers.

Jigsaw was still there, leaning against the corner, watching dispassionately. Asshole.

I crawled to the edge of the forklift, pushed open the door, and flopped down.

Pennywise, now in clown form, slowly extricated himself from the forklift, pulling their own battered body off it. They slowly walked towards me, shooting several death looks at Kramer.

"You'll pay for this. Later." He said, as he walked towards me. He grabbed me by my neck, and hefted me up to head height.

"Was this your plan? A grand fisticuffs, a fight, where you would overcome me with brute strength. How's it working for you. Did you do good? Did you do everything you wanted?" He laughed in my face, his spit dripping over me. "I broke them all. I'll eat their souls again and eat you." I nodded.

"I knew it. You're too strong for me. You have too many strengths, and if you really wanted to go all out, you could beat me. Especially at the core of your strength, where countless children died, burning this place out as a place of ear. That's why I never planned to win this by punching you in the face. You've been focused on me, burning your power on me, focusing your attention on me. The gang knew about you ages ago. They could have been here a while back. Where do you think they are?"

He looked to the side, a look of worry flickering through his face as his awareness flickered through his sewer.

I had a few perk points from the level up. I invested them in zombie spit, and spat in Pennywise's face.

The acid seared his face, and he dropped me.

I hadn't mentioned that Eve and Ethan had a radio. The group was waiting for a signal to set off the explosion. I thought Eve would have more psychic resilience. Pssh.

I staggered drunkenly to Eve, her little childlook body collapsed on the ground as she was trapped in whatever fear vision Pennywise had set her up in. Where was the radio.

**Wisdom check failed- 4/12 **

Debuffs. Fuck. I triggered enlightened mind, and my senses momentarily sharpened. Left pocket- ooh, nice dress. She was wearing a little white thing- no, focus.

I reached out and grabbed the radio, pressing the button to broadcast.

"Plague queen is down! Soul vampire is up. Trigger the explosions, Soul Vampire over."

My fading wisdom gave me the sound of a foot dragging. Pennywise was up again, coming for me.

I staggered away, and tripped over my feet, falling over.

"What's the passcode. Trashmouth, Over." Asked Richie over the radio.

"Sewer clown must die, Soul Vampire, over." I replied.

Pennywise lifted a foot up to stamp on mine. I curled up into a ball, trying to avoid him. His foot slammed down onto my foot, and I heard the crack of bones and felt the sharp agony.

"Do it you bastard!" I shouted.

"You don't have to be rude." He said.

I heard a distant rumbling. A host of explosives they had planted went off, demolishing large segments of the sewer. The sewer, as a castle for Pennywise, no longer existed as an effective entity.

My vision started to fade as I curled up on the floor. Pennywise staggered, looking very unsteady.

**Sewer broken! 20% debuff in stats.**

And collapsed to the ground. He may have immense stats, but 0% of a googleplex is still 0.

John Kramer walked towards me.

"Your will was strong. You deserve this win. I have no love for monsters like It who kill children." He reached down, and turned me on my side.

"So you don't vomit and block your own throat."

"Thanks." I said. An unstoppable impulse came to me. "You left Diana to die. Do you really care about children?"

He shook his head. "You didn't hear the end of those instructions? She would have had her chance. If Gordon failed, she would have had to be brought to him for execution. And I was pretty sure the mother could handle one poisoned doctor in her own home. I'm not a monster." Said the monster.

"And I respect someone who pushes themselves to their limits. I'll be seeing you. I'll make my own way back. I know a few tricks. Nothing like you, but enough. Anyone on the edge does. Be seeing you soon."

He nodded to me, and left.

Fuck.

I levered myself up onto my knees, favouring my non broken foot. I went to Pennywise, still collapsed on the ground. It felt like crawling through treacle, every movement agony and fire and torn ligaments and broken bones, but I made it.

I leaned up on one hand, and slammed my fist into his face. He cracked down onto the stone floor. I smashed my fist repeatedly onto his face.

"Go down you fucker. Give me my level up. I beat you fair and square."

I slammed my fist into his face again and again, reducing it to a bloody pulp. No result.

"Come on now. Explode like the experience filled piñata you are. I want to loot your sewer clown ass."

I drew on my very limited reserves of willpower, and smashed it against his, as the ritual dictated. "I don't fear you any more. Die, you clown."

His eyes opened, glowing orange.

**I have reserves of children perk activated. Accelerated regeneration activated.**

His hand smacked into me, cracking my bones like glass. I rolled to the floor away from him, as he got up. He started walking to me, and my vision started to grey out as I choked in breath, as my body started to shut down.

"You can't kill me. I am immortal. I am-"

His head cracked as a baseball bat slammed into it. Bill. My host's brother. He and the rest of the loser gang came, and began beating the crap out of Pennywise with baseball bats.

**Level up! Quest completed!**

Were the last things I saw as I collapsed. I was an NPC. Time for the children PCs to shine.

* * *

Main IT plot done. Short wrap up next chapter, and then onto Saw again. With my total exhaustion, this was quite a slog, since lots of characters and interacting things. I'll be doing something simpler next, to pick up speed and get back into regular posting.

And for those that worry extensively about random buffs, Kramer isn't a wizard. He just has a few advantages in the field of traps.

And, Kramer was a total asshole for dropping Diana into the game. She really didn't deserve a drugged up nurse trying to kill her so Jigsaw could get a new apprentice.

Guest. Saw 3 is coming, the story should be back on. No sleep meant I couldn't write more complicated plots, but that is mostly over.

Yinko. Yep, upgraded stat, I used the old name. Fixed. Plus, skill levels are meant to change, he levels them up when he uses them. If I remember correctly, he leveled up stealth while creeping around the Baker's house. Lotsa sneaking vs drunk hillbillies.

Dragonbornthesam. SCP could be pretty fun, and he is pretty read to be a D personal now.

BurnedMiw. Yeah, he dies a lot. I love death scenes in games. One of my favourite things. I try to find all the death animations and scenes.

IunctusCord. Yes, she did get let in the party. And in recent chapters, she just got fear gased by Pennywised. I wonder what he sent her ;)

Nobody. Anime is almighty.

So, next chapter, back to Saw. The Clown is dead, long live the plague queen.


	40. Friendship and memetic horrors

The chapter wherein the MC is very confused because he has major brain damage.

* * *

I woke up to someone shaking my shoulders. Pip Dwyer. Brown haired woman, blood stained hair, bruised face. Why were you here?

"Because I'm your mother!"

Was I a gay lesbian now? I lifted my hand up. Didn't lesbians have two hands? Mine was missing. And I didn't think Trapped had caves.

My head was still wringing. I tried to focus on her words.

"You promised! You promised he'd be ok."

Oh yeah, Sharon. IT. And the clown.

I wasn't in a film about a gay Mormon lesbian. Just with the actor of one of them.

"I need to sleep." I said. That sounded pretty solid. Short, to the point. Simple.

She grabbed me, easily picking up my childish weight, and shook me back and forth.

"Bring back my son! I can tell it's not you in control." I checked, and he was still unconscious.

"Georgie is gone." Hopefully that would answer her questions. Now I could sleep. I started to close my eyes, as Gamer's Body started to regenerate my battered and bloody body.

"Bring him back! Bring him back!" She shouted at me, shaking me harder.

**You have taken 1 damage in shaking. Shaken boy condition granted. 10% debuff to all stats.**

Someone- Bill I think- shoved her aside.

"Mom, g-give them t-t-time!" He said.

"He promised-"

"No, he s-saved us!"

"Bros before hoes!" I said, and I let them get to their thing.

* * *

I opened my eyes, and it felt like half a second later. My head felt like a zoo of apes was screaming at me, and my skin felt like it had peeled off in the sun. I dug a bit into my senses. Places where skin had torn off had regenerated, and freshly exposed nerves were sticking out in the air, raw and painful.

I needed a lot of work. Why was I awake?

**New game starting in 59 seconds. 58 seconds.**

I looked at my hand stump. It hadn't started to regenerate yet. The more pressing issues had started. My foot had started to heal, along with some of the deeper cuts. I didn't really want to leave Georgie

Owww. Arrrgh. Georgie was screaming in my head. Oh yeah. I triggered **backup gamer's mind**, and my gamer's mind slid up again, alleviating some of my mental trauma. I wrapped it around his mind more, shielding him from the pain.

"That's better- did we win?" He asked in my head.

"Yeah, but we need a delay. Maturin. You're my patron. Pretty please with a cherry on top could you delay this counter till I heal the hand?"

**40 seconds. 39 seconds.**

Well, that was annoying. "Georgie, could you ask your brother to summon Maturin?"

He spoke out loud. "Bill! We need Maturin."

Bill turned to us. He was arguing with his mother and dad about something. Probably me.

"On it. Maturin!"

There was a brief pause.

"Not me, Georgie!" He said.

And I heard Maturin's voice in my head again. He sounded distracted. "What is it?" Special privileges for special people. Pssh.

**30 seconds. 29 seconds.**

"I need you to delay the new game counter. It's gonna send me to a new world."

"There'll be consequences. Your old patron might notice. Are you sure? There's a big nest of vampires, they need help now."

**10 seconds, 9 seconds.**

"Yes!"

"This is harder than I expected. There's a quest to unlock it?"

**4 seconds, 3 seconds.**

"I'm sorry Georgie..." I said, looking at his broken food, his sliced off hand. I just needed a day-

"Done. Now, don't bother me for a while." Said Maturin.

"Thank you, Maturin-sensei." I said.

The weight of his presence faded from my mind. He had his stuff to deal with. We'd be helping with that later.

I looked at Georgie. "I need something, when I next awake."

"What?" He said.

"What more are you gonna take from us?" Asked Sharon.

"Chinese. Lots, and lots of Chinese food." And I slumped down again, letting gamer's body and mind take the wheel.

* * *

I woke up feeling very shitty. Ooh, tongue. That was a lot of tongue. Cure was licking my face. "Hi Cure. I missed you in there." Skin was fine, no evil clowns- Bill was smashing him in with a bat right now, as planned- why was I feeling shitty.

Ah, my foot. I leaned forward, using Cure's weight to reduce the pressure on my body. He grabbed me, and I flopped down to the floor again. "My boy missed me." I kissed his cheek, and nose, and he licked me some more. I kept my arms around his neck, and pulled up again.

My head span some more, but with Gamer's Mind up again, it quickly washed off. Some of the bones were awkwardly wedged against each other, and my body couldn't heal them properly.

I grabbed at my foot, and squeezed. The bones popped out of their misalignment, agony stabbing through my body. I ignored it, shoving aside shards of bone in my purple and swelling foot, and cracked it again, pulling the bones apart.

That was better. I checked myself over. Lots of scratches still, I'd fallen over a lot. No infection, thanks to disease control. Some bone cracks. Nothing squirting, no bones sticking out. It would be fine.

I went down to collapse again, when Eve came to kneel down next to me. Cure nuzzled at her hand, as she spoke" You're not my mommy. You're just a little bug." She said, as I faded out. Well, that was nice. And Cure, you did not defend me.

* * *

I woke up to the warm aroma of Chinese food. Black bean sauce, chicken, chop suey, rice of many sorts, and water.

**You are dehydrated and hungry! You have tapped most of your body's reserves for healing. Healing rate reduced to 10% of normal for the near future.**

I wiggled my foot around. Still a bit broken. I looked around. Eve was chatting to some of her new brothers and sisters. Not killing me.

Pennywise was stuck on the trap, and Richie was pounding him continually with a bat, bruising and battering his body, making fresh wounds which slowly healed. I picked up some black bean chicken and some water, and started eating it while I hobbled towards him.

Smelt, and tasted amazing. I walked towards Pennywise, eating the food. Ooh, baby hand. I wiggled my new tiny hand, growing out of my wrist.

My host's mother came towards me, no doubt to vent more emotions but I stopped her with a finger.

"Your son is alive and fine, give me my moment." I ordered. She wavered for a moment and I used that to plough onwards.

"Pennywise, Sewer Clown. I know your game. The group would fight you, perhaps be strong enough to hurt you. But you're a cosmic horror. You'd just pop up again later. You know what you are now? Food for us. One of the group is gonna be pounding you for the rest of their lives. We're never gonna let you heal, or escape. And more than that, Maturin has your ass. He can drain your essence drip by drip, making those here stronger and gaining a huge amount of power from you. Your slow, agonized death is gonna be the first step to making him the boss of this world again. The turtle is back to stay-" I backhanded Pennywise, knocking them back, right as Richie smashed them again with the baseball bat.

"You're over. In a few decades you'll be dry like a husk, and then we'll kill you." I said.

Pennywise spoke, even as his mouth was broken and battered by the smash of the bat, laughing.

"Kill? Me? Oh you are priceless, brat! I am eternal, child. I am the eater of worlds, and of children. And you are next! This won't hold me forever."

"I beat you, Sewer Clown. Shape is reality. You're gonna be too battered to do anything."

"You say those words like you have any real understanding. You know nothing of the deeper truth of the prim or what lurks beneath these words. You can't stop m-" Richie shoved the bat into Pennywise's mouth, breaking their teeth and shutting them up.

"Your spider children punched me, made me walk through shitty water, dragged me through a graveyard.. and now I'm gonna shut you up you fucking clown."

He smashed the bat into Pennywise's mouth repeatedly, and indeed shut him up.

I turned to Georgie's family. They'd been waiting to speak. Probably to rant at me.

"Done. What do you want to say." I waved my hand at them, keeping eating, refueling my body to heal the grievous wounds.

"Your hand- it's- is it gonna stay like that" Sharon asked.

I shook my head. "Nah, magic is healing it now. Healing just paused because my body ran out of fuel. On the upside, Georgie no longer needs to lose a few pounds."

"Hey." Said Georgie, through our mouth. "I'm not fat. You're fat."

"Maybe." I said, finishing off the chicken. I went to get some beef stick things. No clue what they were called.

Sharon looked like she'd lost her place, but a moment later she worked up energy to speak again.

"You came into our lives, spent all our savings- and now our children have to spend their days in a sewer! You cut off my son's hand. You bring chaos where you walk."

"Mom-" Said Bill, looking back. I waved him off.

"I can handle this. Anything else?" Sometimes people needed to rant.

"I was just being an average piano tuner. Life was good. Now I'm what, slave to a giant turtle!" She grabbed her hair, walking back and forth. "You did this! You came into our lives and brought all this in!" Not really fair, but I nodded and hummed. I needed this place to remain cohesive.

She kept on speaking. "And now, my children are in a cult. A cult! You know by now Pennywise could have been killed by the ritual. Knocked down a hole." Waitamomentno.

"How do you know about the alternate timeline."

My brain's tired gears tried to work it out. I hadn't told her. Maybe she was psychic and saw the other timeline.

"And another thing-" She kept ranting at me, getting louder and louder, and angrier and angrier.

Something was off. I remembered something. In the back of my head. A name.

"Simurgh protocol. Alpha G-" I said, my code word for Master Strange situations, as a fist rammed into my head. Hers.

I really was off my game- and that fist hit harder than it should.

I fell to the ground, dazed.

**30 damage taken! You have a concussion. 30% mental stat debuff. Partially negated,**

She knocked Richie aside, grabbing the bat. "He said he would free us!"

And as she did, a black arm wrapped around her neck, yanking her back. Dick Hallorann, the black cook with psychic powers.

"You're scared of everything, Mrs Denbrough."

"How did you know my name?" I hadn't introduced them.

Beverley had taken over the beatings, and Stan and Bill were holding back the father.

"I can remember when I was a little boy your age... my grandmother and I could hold entire conversations without ever opening our mouths. She called it "shining". And for a long time I thought it was only the two of us who had the shine... just like you who thought you was the only one. You were not. And when something happens it can leave a trace of itself behind. Say like... it's when someone burns toast. When some things happen, it can leave other traces behind. Not things anyone can notice, but things that only people with shine can see. IT left it's shine in you."

She struggled frantically as he spoke, screaming and clawing at him, trying to escape his calming voice.

"And it's gone." And she flopped down.

I sighed, and swayed up. I should have seen that coming. I glanced at Ethan, Eve, and Zack. "Are you gonna cause problems? You all got hit by It's psychic whammie."

Zack shook his head. "He showed me terrible things- but I couldn't- no."

Eve spoke. "I know you're not my mother." Oh yeah. "But I have a family of my own. He didn't break my mind. I'll be with all my brothers and sisters. I'll be staying here."

Ethan stepped forward, next to me. "It was a psychic clown. Don't believe a word it said. No effect here."

She stared at him.

"You know that's not really her!" Eve stamped her foot.

"Because a clown told me? Please. You've given me worse hallucinations." Ethan said.

I swayed a bit, and got to my feet again. My head was pounding, and my hand wasn't quite better.

"She can stay. And totally. You have your wife back." Lie lie lie. He could shotgun Eve if she was bad.

I pottered around, and started refilling my inventory.

Ethan gestured at Eve. "See, there."

"This clown should unite you all. You're all marked by Maturin. If you stay here, you can gain his power. Eat his flesh, and Maturin will bless you with greater power and strength. Just as I gained strength from him you can too. You may stay, Eve. But all of you, remember there's a greater purpose. You all have some reason to be here. Fear, friendship, family, famine, fealty. But there's a greater threat. This world is filled with monsters and is in danger of collapse. Those monsters have power and magic and greatness-"

Ooh, chest of magical items and hyper tech. Dick had brought it. What a bro.

"And Something." I shook my head. Concussion. "And I need to lie down. But yeah. Kill monsters, stop the beams of the dark tower breaking. You can do it team."

I said, and flopped down. Concussion. Bleh.

I woke up again. I had a full hand. Almost full. I flexed the fingers. And I hadn't gone back to the other world.

I walked over to Sharon. "So about all that?"

She looked down with shame. "I can't believe I hit my own son! I'm so sorry I can't-" She said, looking down.

"Magic does weird things, don't worry. So, Pennywise- still trapped?" He was being pounded and beaten by Stan of all people now.

"All is right and I-"

Protective bubble overwhelmed. Primordial override. Ten seconds left.

"Back in the box, Ethan!" I shouted, and I drew him into my inventory.

"Keep Georgie safe!" I said. "I'm about to be yanked out.

And I was gone.

I didn't wake up in my nice between dimensions.

I woke up strapped to a chair, dizzy, swaying. I saw flashes of blood. The smell was thick in my nose. I saw the sterile hospital walls around me, smelled old antiseptic. I smelt mold.

And I was out again.

I looked up. There was a light above me. I was coming too. And a TV. I had a metal device on my jaw, painful. My body ached.

And- I was black?

* * *

Always have a bunch of codenames for friends. It makes surprises much easier.

While I know many wanted to go straight to Saw 3, I need to get back into the swing of things, so here we are the Saw Video game. It's simple, linear, and easy to do. Writing this was a drain because so many characters and interactions, so I need something simple and violent. Afterwards, he can go to SCP or Saw 3, you can decide. Either works.

Jakewjelliot2. Yep, that's why he's in his next location partly. No super high level enemies wandering around, he can fight people who are about as good as him or a bit below. He'll be able to flex all his new powers.

Iunctus. Eve is happy for now because she has hundreds of siblings and potential mummies and daddies, but we'll see later what she's up to. And you are mistaken, SCP 3930 is just a hypothetical thing, it doesn't really exist. It's a placeholder to be filled later, and doesn't exist anywhere. ;)

Dragonbornthesam. Yep, I figured his cave had the shining of their deaths, and so buffed his stats. SCP will probably involve a lot of deaths, given how many memetic horrors I know and would remember with my buffed intelligence stat.

Nobody. Thanks, the team has won, and now he has a new team with magic connecting them.

Dirk. It could happen. Pick SCP or Saw 3.

Guest. Maybe he can have other non horror universes as vacation spots sometime.

Poundweed. Yay for anime.

Next time, the MC experiences what life is like as a black man being oppressed by the man. Probably tomorrow.


	41. Game of Saw

I was in a Saw bathroom, and was black. Bound by steel to a chair. There was a white dummy with a steel trap on it near me. Tv in front of me, those annoying flickering lamps. I was black. Who was black. Tapp, Jonas, Timothy Young… was I in Saw 3 as Timothy young?

I tested my strength against the bonds.

**24/30 strength, strength check failed.**

**Steel bindings. 20 durability, 30 armor. Made to keep you secure and locked up. Grandmaster quality.**

I could bust it with drug fueled strength, but I preferred to save the buff.

The TV started up and Jigsaw's creepy clown face popped up.

"Hello Detective Tapp. I want to play a game."

Ohh. Didn't he die? I didn't remember a film about him. Was I in a comic? Was this a spin off after I got sucked up?

"Your obsession with catching me has robbed you of your life and the lives of others. You abuse every resource available to you, tearing apart lives in your quest to find the truth."

Well that was really unfair of you, Jigsaw. Just because I am trying to catch you doesn't mean I am a bad person. He is really particular about people who come after him. It's a real weird coincidence that everyone who tries to catch Jigsaw turns out to be a perfect candidate for a trap.

That said, he said something. Abuse every resource.

Chair, old. 2/4 durability. An old chair found lying around. Shoddily made.

I stand up, lifting the chair up off the ground, and slam it to the ground. The cheap wood snapped and broke under my weight, and I yanked myself off the ground.

"You have lost your partner, your badge, even the life of your partner, Detective Sing."

"I didn't really lose him, you killed him. He didn't even need to be tested!" I started to fiddle with my head mask. Looked like… reverse venus fly trap ones. Needed to find the clatch.

"You have lost your health, whittled away by the bullet wound in your chest."

I probably had a debuff from that. Should heal pretty fast. So, was this a side comic for Saw? I knew they had comics.

**Mad scientist in contest with rival skill, journeyman trapmaker! Your skill is out levelled by 37 seconds. Will take 1 minute 37 second to break free.**

"Now we will see if you can overcome your obsession." Said the TV. "No doubt you remember the device attached to your jaw. It's evidence left over from your investigation." That shouldn't be in his hands. Oh no, dirty cops, what a shock. I fiddled with a latch. You had to get it just right to avoid the tripwire

"Here's what happens if you lose." The dummy's face exploded, as the reverse venus fly trap went off.

"Free yourself and get yourself free of the device and pursue me, or sit there and let it tear you apart. The choice is yours."

**Hard difficulty activated! You will now have access only to the abilities from your original body, with your enhanced attributes returning over 24 hours.**

Oh shit. I felt my skills, my mind start to evaporate, as it all began to leave me.

My shoulder burned hot like fire.

**Play it by ear. I won't let them curse you. Maturin.**

**Error! System override. Normal difficulty retained.**

And the timer stopped. Thanks, turtle harem master. This is why you're the best patron.

The timer started and- I think from the ticking.

**Time to device removal- 1 minute 07 seconds. Time to death. 1 minute.**

That wasn't ideal. I needed an edge.

I quickly equipped my Macgyver title. I felt a rush of knowledge fill me, and I knew what to do, as the timer to remove the device halved. I quickly got it off.

**For breaking free of this trap with manual dexterity, you have gained +1 dex point.**

Thanks magic system. I did feel a lot better. Universe swap had healed my mind and body. So, inventory. Broken chair. Two traps. Mannequin, broken. Mirror. Combination lock on the door. Numbers on the toilet. That was a simple puzzle…

Oh shit. I was in a video game. I remembered, there were two of them.

This was weird. Wasn't this before Saw?

I had me as well. I glanced at my stat sheet.

**Name: David Tapp**

**Job: Gamer of Maturin**

**Level: 1**

**Titles**.

**Macgyver. John Kramer and Amanda know you now! You have been dubbed Macgyver, after the mechanical genius who escaped many a trap. Any reputation gains with John or his apprentices are doubled, and you can construct and deconstruct devices 100% faster.**

**Stats**

**HP: 15**

**Stamina: 19**

**Strength: 24**

**Constitution: 15**

**Dexterity: 12**

**Intelligence: 15**

**Wisdom: 15**

**Luck: 12**

I had +12 to wisdom and +10 to luck so.

"Your luck is pretty shit, Tapp boy." I could feel him inside my head, very confused.

"I called you, when I was in Adam's body. I made sure you knew what was going on. You fucked up. You should have won the fight with the nurse."

He struggled silently inside his mind, my powers locking him inside me. For now, I would be leading. He did not have psychic powers to make a jail break.

I skimmed over the perk list. I had 75 perk points left over from the past, some from levels up, quest rewards, broken perks. There were a bunch of new options, but one called to me.

**Competent warrior. You have mastered your first full set of levels up. You gain all the HP and stamina bonuses from levelling up to level 10, and can continue to gain levels. 25 perk points.**

Yes please. I dumped all my perk points into it.

And I collapsed. I felt my body rippling, subtle changes happening all over. I couldn't move, my muscles tore themselves apart.

Then it was over.

**165 HP. 209 stamina. **

I was ready. I was gonna crush this game.

* * *

Jigsaw's speech here was wildly unfair. Does he expect Tapp to be sorry for chasing a murderer? Mega hypocritical, Kramer.

I hadn't played the game till I started writing this story, so the SI is going in blind.

Dragonbornthesame. I am open to suggestions. I am leaning towards dropping him into a video game, but a story also works. That said, extra monsters I or readers like can be added. Lots of chances to meet creepy SCPs.

Moche. I like too.

Guest. By chapter 5, he had gained a title to break pipes, a bunch of stat buffs, and detailed knowledge that Amanda was fucking with things. By chapter 6, as you may see if you keep reading, Amanda is crushed and Jigsaw humiliated. He does advance a lot. He's a lot more powerful than he was at the start by now. And he wasn't debuffed. He had slightly above baseline abilities from the very start, along with revival on death, and advanced quickly.

Next time, into the game.


	42. Flexing is fun

Maturin, may him and his harem ever be fertile and blessed, had left me with many blessings. The Mark of Maturin on my shoulder had shielded me from an unfair difficulty spike, and would later grant me a fraction of the power my allies in Clownland gained from defeating cosmic horrors. I was somewhat resistant to certain magics and mind control in a way beyond the gamer's mind which even at max level was not proof against divine mind control.

The greatest blessing was the improvement in the game's in built sound system. Now, don't get me wrong, there was some very solid Saw music, but the first two films didn't have the best of them. Zepp Eight? Amazing music, from Jigsaw, I jogged to it many mornings. Be surprised, great spooky music, Saw 3. Saw 3, Baptism, amazing. The original movies didn't have bad music, but it got better.

With my new system I could pirate music I heard. I had abused my power to get, among other things, every Queen song I could find. Queen was my favourite band, and most listened to back in real life, and very good for singalongs. I needed that razor focus now because I had a big task.

I turned on Don't Stop Me Now, at max volume. I had a plan. I was going to kill John Kramer. It had a sweet reward, and this seemed like the perfect time to try it since I was in video game lala land with no consequences.

I paced over to the mirror, running my hand over it. I could feel the indents, the little places where more stress had been applied and less. I slammed my hand into it, ripping out a pair of pieces of glass.

**Rare glass shard. 4/4 durability, 4 armor, 10 damage. An especially sharp shard of glass with impressive durability.**

I'd selected for extra damage and durability for my common and uncommon powers. My skill was rank 3, which meant I automatically got a common and uncommon blessing for scavanged items, and at level 28 had a 28% chance of a rare quality. This one was superior above the norm, with a rare quality of toughness and 4 armor. There was only a 1/3 chance of that. Lucky me.

**Uncommon glass shard. 6/6 durability, 1 damage. A very tough shard of glass.**

No extra luck on that one, but that was fine. I took a few more shards of glass.

Working the two shards of glass together, I worked the uncommon shard into a crude screwdriver, and head to the TV. It was time to build a Jigsaw killer.

I pulled the plug out, and began unscrewing the base. This would be delicate. Ideally you'd have wire cutters and a desoldering bulb and pliers for this since the components were held in with bits of tin lead alloy. I'd have to make do with glass tools. And amazing music.

I got to slicing wires, and sang along to the music as I sliced.

"Don't stop me now..."

I didn't have a battery in here. I needed some way to store power. Old tvs had a lot of capacitors and the crt itself often held a nice charge. If I touched this I would be a shooting star smashing into the wall as I convulsed.

I sliced the wires leading to the crt, the electron gun board, and some coils of wire. No shock yet.

I carefully unmounted the circuitboard after unscrewing it and began popping the capacitors out, storing them my screwdriver glass.

I carefully sliced out the solder around the flyback transformer. This was the most valuable part of this. These could produce a powerful voltage which I could use to power a bunch of effects. I levered it out.

I yanked out out all the other junk. Resistors, transistors, transformers, copper wire, diodes. Useful for electrical projects. In normal life these were junk you could buy cheap from china. Maybe worth 1 cent for each part. Honestly, other than the capacitors, most of an old tv was junk. You'd get more from the non electric frame. But, I did not have the privilege of ordering a bunch of parts from China to deliver to me in Kramer's murder dungeon.

"I am having such a good time." I said, as the song line came up again.

Yanking out the seat under the mannequin, I made a very crude new circuitboard, threaded with wires.

The basics of this device was that I would push the capacitors together. They'd give anyone they touched a nasty shock when they hit. There was a thin layer of wire above all the electrical stuff, which would make a circuit. It would burn out after a hit, but it would give me a nice edge.

**Crude taser. 1/1 durability. 100 damage. Adds debuff, shocked. A crude taser you have built out of scrap you found, which will give enemies an electrifying ending.**

I then equipped Pipeslayer, and felt the rush of knowledge. Formally the title gave me a 100% increase in damage, but it wasn't really just some magic. It was more a knowledge. With this title I knew hundreds, thousands of brands of pipe, I knew their life cycles, I knew where they were made and what the quirks of each were, and on average, I could damage them 100% better on average. A really well made pipe with no flaws, I wouldn't do any extra damage.

This one though? Yeah I could break it easy. I yanked out an old pipe from the wall. Using some of my clothes around the blade, I made a very crude spear.

**Crafting success! ****Glass spear. **** 4/4 durability, 4 armor, ****3****0 damage. ****A pipe and some glass can be very dangerous in the right hands.**

Awesome, I got the journeyman buff on that. Extra damage is amazing.

I triggered packhorse. Behind a toilet I found an old backpack, which I strapped to my back. That perk let me find an uncommon storage device, and people might well leave backpacks in toilets.

I did need shoes, but I didn't see an easy way of making them.

I took the tape from the TV. I needed that for later. I started working on crafting more glass spear heads as I walked around the toilet, slicing off bits of glass to make sharpened blades.

I was pretty sure I was meant to solve this puzzle by closing the toilet doors and reading it, but I was a contrary person who followed no laws but the laws of nature.

I knelt by the combination lock and turned it, listening for the click as each number went in. 437.

I popped the lock and added that to my backpack, and headed on.

Some big pipe thing was in front of me. Lotta pressure in the heating system. I tapped it, and my hand almost burnt. I turned right, kicked an old bin as I went past, sending the metal rolling off and climbed up the stairs. Boarded up door to my right, assorted trash on the floor. Paper stuff. I scouped some up. Never know when you're gonna need some paper.

Ooh, another TV. I quickly dismantled this one as well, doubling the power of my taser. There was a camera hidden up watching the tv, which I avoided, yanked out, and started dismantling. To kill Kramer I needed to not be spotted.

"Adada. Daaa da da da daaaa" I said as the song ended.

Bohemian Rhapsody next.

I headed forward into the next room. This map was very linear. C- grade at best. Work harder game designers.

I headed forward into the next toilet, and glanced around. Bomb, TV and-

I heard something through the song words real boy. A man lunged at me from my left. I quickly responded, lunging with my spear, stabbing through his neck, slicing open his artery.

**34 damage done! Enemy slain. 10 exp.**

Blood splattered me as he slumped on the bars dividing our two rooms.

"Creepy dude." I looked at the TV. The doll was speaking on it. I reluctantly turned off Queen.

"… panel will open both doors. Detective Tapp, you must first find the object in the toilets to unlock the panel. As for the panel, I've gathered refuse from the obsessions of drug users..."

"Oh fuck you Kramer." I turned the music back up. "Why do you have such a shit obsession? Does every trap have to involve searching through literal shit? Ugh. At least with Adam it was in the bowl."

I pulled the paper trash from out of my backpack, and went to the toilets. They smelt of stale urine, shit, and all things nasty. I sighed again at Kramer.

I tried the toilet on the far wall first. Using the trash paper, which quickly got soggy and disgusting, I yanked out all the syringes, tossing them on the floor. I stepped away as some got on my naked feet. "Ew, toilet water."

Nothing.

I went to the middle one next and repeated. Success! There was a dirty fuse lying around the no doubt HIV and hepatitis covered syringes that Kramer had dutifully collected.

I wandered how he had done it. I briefly had an image of Kramer skulking behind some druggie, a greedy look on face. The druggie would drop the syringe, and he would leap forward with a shit eating look on his face and add it to the bag, fantasizing about Tapp digging through a toilet filled with syringes.

I had fuses already from the TV. I didn't need this one.

I left the HIV covered fuse on the ground, wiped clean my hands, and walked to the door. Next to it was a timer, counting down from a minute. I took out a fuse and put it in the fuse hole. It clicked, and the timer stopped.

I had expected killing Kramer to be hard, but no, he literally left me with explosives to take. I ran my fingers over the wires. He was a master of mechanical engineering, and made some pretty amazing traps, but I was pretty sure he was crap with electrical stuff. There was a wire that I was pretty sure would set it off if I cut it-

Really, it would be a lot easier if he left me with a red wire to cut. I would revive if I died, but I might be injured too badly to disarm my trap… but I was pretty sure I could disarm this bomb without it going off. Looked like he had taken a common mining explosive, ANFO, and done some wiring around the top.

I could disarm this, maybe. I was pretty sure there was another way.

"Mama, I don't want to die…" Using the glass, I sliced open a hole in the bottom of the explosive, very gently, and let the contents drip out into a paper container I had made. I quickly drained all the explosive powder and stored it.

I looked for a way out. After a bit of searching I found it. In my now dead companion's room (I hoped he wasn't a good dude) there was a switch. I probably had to press it. Video game logic.

The way was barred with pipes. I activated Pipe Slayer, and my ninja body, and strained against the Pipe.

**Strength check succeeded. 36/24.**

The pipes bent before my strength, old metal cracking and fracturing and I forced my way in. I took the explosive powder in my ally's room, and pressed his switch.

The door opened? I turned to the corpse lying near me.

"I am getting your shoes." I yanked his shoes off, and they were the perfect size. I pulled them on. I then stripped him of his clothing, and advanced onwards.

Two queen songs, and I was ready to kill John Kramer.

**Explosive power. Durability, 3/3. Damage, 2000.**

I had entered Saw 1 shoeless. Finally I had shoes.

* * *

Macgyver flexes on the saw dungeon.

This chapter was designed partly to show how far he had come. He smashed his way easily through challenges, ripped apart pipes, rapidly constructed a function taser, disarmed a bomb, and most importantly got shoes. All within the span of two queen songs.

And just as I in roleplay games seek to bypass all the traps to go kill the big boss, now he shall attempt the same.

Frescko. I have, he would enjoy not having flesh torn from his body and just having to deal with mental horror. If you have an idea for a psychological horror tale, do say. That said, he does generally have to win these things with wit, lies and sociopathic horror. He tried to outfight Saw 1, but only won by manipulating Gordon into action and almost died. He tried to outfight resident evil, but only won by manipulating Eve and Ethan into being his meat shields and almost died. In Saw 2 he faced a superior equipped team of sociopaths, and had to win by skilled use of traps and social manipulation and tactical planning. In IT he faced a godlike clown and had to win by deceit, sociopathy and wit to a man hating lesbian, and by persuading a divine turtle to help a bro out. He's generally faced steep odds, and hasn't been able to brute force his way out.

Guest. Saw 3 is coming. I just needed to recharge, rewrite his character sheet, and do some tweaking. Saw 3 will be a hard one for him as well, so grinding first is good. His enemies are now aware he exists and can enact countermeasures.

Obssessed. A prison breakout horror would be great, got any ideas of which one?

Guest. I know, I hate games which don't let me play a dude. This story is an ode to my hate. I want a man option in all games. Except Tomb Raider, that's pretty sweet.

Shawnofthelitter. The blue white stuff is actually a myth, annoyingly as I discovered. There are not two separate ways to wear it, that's a myth.

Guest. Yes, he can go into any Saw media.

Next time, Macgyver vs Kramer, the violent showdown.


	43. The fire of intellect

**You have gained +1 int for solving the puzzle in an intellectual way. **

I stepped out of the door, feeling my knowledge grow a bit deeper as the change sank into me. I wasn't quite sure of my build. I was out of, for now, a place where every stat point needed to go to immediate needs. I felt strong.

I twirled my spear as I kept walking through the dank corridors. Bins, paper scraps, glass shards. A wooden corridor. I flicked it open. There was a dirty syringe in there. I wasn't gonna inject that into myself. I got a strong urge to do so, but I resisted.

I really needed to get out more. I was so lonely for drugs I was considering using random drugs I found in a Saw dungeon. Next thing you know, I'd be rooting through garbage to eat some trash food to recover HP.

I did find a lighter though, and pocketed that.

I headed onwards.

Two people behind thick steel wires fought to the death before me. I had no clue why. One ran up to me, slamming against the steel wires. Around his neck was a steel mask with nails banged in. It slammed shut on his face, and blood dripped down his neck. The death mask. I'd escaped one just like it back when I was ghosting the body of Marks.

"Ok dude you clearly have a lot going on. I'm gonna go." I walked on.

It's not like I wasn't aware that people probably had some useful messages. Just, I trusted my senses more. This was all an elaborate trap by Jigsaw. If I listened to all his videos and audiotapes and random news articles I would be getting into the game. I'd follow his carefully laid out path and his manipulation would pay fruit. This is what I did in roleplay games as well. If you never talk to NPCs, they can't social fu you.

I didn't have time for that or really want to follow Kramer's path which no doubt involved digging through trash, shit, or someone's organs for a way out. I was gonna to get out on my own strength.

Along the way I picked up another tv, getting more damage for my taser. It was up to 300 now, as hard hitting as a rifle bullet. I reached a ladder. Someone was climbing up. I saw a flash of a name.

**Pighead. One of the apprentices of Jigsaw, their identity is hidden under their heavy red robes. If you learn the secret, you will better understand yourself. 1500 HP.**

This was a tough mother fucker.

I listened. My senses had become very keen. Like many a gamer wisdom was a specialty and I sensed a lot. I could smell the damp smell of old buildings. I could taste old blood in the air. I could feel vibrations through my feet from the over pressure pipes in the wall. I could hear him.

His wet breathing, his shaking hands, the pulse of the ladder from his movements. He was waiting on me, standing up there no doubt to kill me as soon as I went up the ladder. I wouldn't disappoint. I had 2000 hp of explosive material. Enough to kill a normal man. I needed most of that for jigsaw. I doubted that this video game boss was a lightning bruiser. Probably slow and tough, from the way he moved.

If I climbed up he could knock me off or shank me but... I made a small grenade, using 100 HP of explosive.

**Makeshift grenade. Enhanced using metal flotsam, this explosive will give anyone a bad day. Durability 1/1, damage 150 HP.**

Solid result. I'd gotten the extra damage.

It wasn't fancy to look at. Paper wrapped around explosive balls, with a make shift fuse. I tossed it up the shaft.

I started climbing up, just behind it, chakra filled muscles helping me rush up. A small explosion ripped out from above and i heard a grunt, felt some blood splatter out. The ladder shook, but my maths had been tight. No falling.

I emerged on top and saw them limping away. Some of the outfit on their arm had been ripped away, revealing pale burnt skin. I tossed my spear at the exposed flesh, the glass blade lancing out. He dodged aside, escaping around the corner. I didn't chase after him. If I did, he might just hit me in the head when I turned a corner.

Advancing a bit forward, spear retrieved and reglassed, I found a large broken sign, saying Whitehouse asylum. Ah. I was in a crazy house. My sanity had finally broken. Well, better kill Jigsaw soon.

After I emerged into a large surgical room. A quick glance around inside showed a camera, which I ripped out for robot parts. After that I checked out the barrier between me and the person at the center who-

I briefly turned off my music. Amanda! This was my lucky day. My long time nemesis, apprentice of Jigsaw, trapped in a trap and there for the taking. Mine.

Some of the metal wire fencing had been ripped out, and replaced by a wooden barrier. I triggered Break it Down, and kicked it down. A simple kick made the wood rip open, and my foot felt fine after. I could kick doors like this all day. Or at least, once an hour.

I quickly worked my way to the surgical area where Amanda was crying out, my strength easily letting me scamper down past the barriers.

She was in a chair. Nice red shirt. There were needles at the side, metal wrist guards to keep her locked in. There was a second chair, also with syringes There was a machine with- ew. Twisty puzzles. Turn the puzzles to get her out? I got injected as well? That was sick. I wasn't gonna drug myself up to save Amanda.

TV as well, saying some nonsense.

"I can't breathe! Get me out of this thing." Amanda ordered, a look of terror on her face.

I walked over to her, and quickly purchased a perk.

**Hungry for flesh. By consuming the flesh of humans or other sentient beings, especially their brains, you can gain some degree of their knowledge and secrets. 6 points.**

As the needles at her side snapped forward, I grabbed them, and forced them away with brute strength.

"You're safe now." I told Amanda.

"You're not following his rules!" She said with a frantic look on her face.

I drew out the glass shard, and sliced it across her throat, ripping open her artery.

**Level up! You've killed Amanda. **

I carefully sliced open her skull with the sharpest of the glass shards and- I got to zombieing.

Jigsaw was gonna die, and she could lead me right to her. It was pretty disgusting, but so was digging through a toilet for a syringe.

Hungry for flesh let me choose what information to focus on. I could absorb a decent fraction of her skills if I was so inclined, but it would take time and I was worried about doing an iZombie and getting some permanent crazy personality shift. I had stunned Pighead, and rushed here, but Amanda was Jigsaw's. I had no false belief that I would be safe if I stayed here long.

I focused on knowledge of paths through the asylum and where she had recently seen Jigsaw. I quickly assimilated the knowledge, and soon had a good idea of where to go.

I had it- and then I heard a door open. I glanced back and saw Pighead come in the door. Thirty meters maybe.

I was about to leave, when I got a flash of new info I could use. Summer.

I couldn't just rip out the body. Too much damage might lose me them, and fleeing while carrying a corpse was dangerous. I needed to get the knowledge now, or I might lose grasp of it and have to spend an age finding it again.

I needed this taser to stop Jigsaw. I could use that to stun him. But I needed the explosives as well. I didn't have any other weapons with enough damage to stun someone with over a thousand health.

I glanced at the tv. This would be tight.

**Craft taser. Time. 45 seconds.**

**Retrieve memory. Time. 60 seconds. **

I triggered clear thinking and enlightenment, my sensations boosted as I saw all, my mind accelerated. I rammed my 3 stat points into int, getting it up to 10 where I could buy a special perk to boost my int by 10 again and another to help me with crafting.

**Genius. Your mind is faster, and you can maintain multiple parallel tracks of thought, or focus your entire mind on one obsession. Once a day, gain +10 int for a single act of genius.**

**Rushed job. Focusing your obsession, you can complete a single manufacturing job in half the time once a day. **

I triggered it, and my mind burnt. I triggered desperate struggle, to relieve the pain, pulled on my gamer's mind to shield me. I had felt this before, when doing radical changes. Perks, stats, they changed you. Physically, mentally. It was quite a trial. Your body metamorphosing into something better.

This burnt, worse than any time before. My head was on fire. Everything went fuzzy.

I had calculated the odds, but damn, I was bad at maths. My hands started to shake, and I couldn't hold the memories.

Then I felt my shoulder burn. Maturin's power filled me. It didn't stop the pain, but it buffered it enough that I could retain my focus.

Filling my hands with Chakra, I was ready.

I leaned over, grabbed the TV, and began ripping it apart for parts.

I had done this three times before. I knew this TV, I knew how the taser worked. I probably had ten seconds or less, but I could do it. I could feel every part of this, my senses burning, and my mind had this all.

Meanwhile, my mind rushed faster and faster through Amanda's memories as I sought out that hidden secret.

**Craft taser. Time. 13 seconds**

**Retrieve memory. Time. 20 seconds. **

I'd gotten -5 from the perks, -10 from the buffs, -4 from int and half from each of the 3 point perks.

I sliced the TV open, ripping out capacitors and parts. Faster than any time before I pulled together my makeshift taser, ripping part from part as fast as I could. I glanced over, my mouth splattered with blood, and saw Pighead roaring, charging me. I didn't have long.

I wasn't gonna make it. I could abandon my task, use my scarce taser. Scavenge for more parts for a new taser.

But all that took time, it would be obvious who I was. I'd probably lose this start and a lot of perk points and my shot at killing Jigsaw. I had to choose between my life and knowledge. I refused to take that choice. I needed to know. I pushed myself to my limit, twisting wires and parts into place, the electricity under my hand enough to kill me if I moved a finger wrong, even as I sought the secrets of who my patron was.

I felt another mind touch mine. Something much greater. Something magical, related to my new power. I felt fire, hotter than any sun. I heard four words, in a feminine voice. "Your body will burn, but I'll remember your name." and a burst of knowledge filled me.

There was a quicker way I could do this! If I wired it that way…

**Taser completed! Durability 1/1, 200 damage. Grandmaster quality taser, improvised from a TV, with a powerful voltage, and wires to dig it deep.**

I twisted around, and as Pighead approached, I rammed the taser into him. Electricity pulsed through his body, and he stepped back, his muscles shaking, the electricity from the tv enough to stagger even someone with his strength and toughness.

I dug deep into Amanda's brains, and found the memory.

Amanda and Jigsaw were working together on pieces of clockwork together. A clockwork gun, like in Saw 2. Why did they need that?

"I'm glad we got to do this. It feels good working together after..." Amanda frowned, and looked at her hand, and her prosthetic foot.

"It does. There's nothing purer than working out something by hand. We might even meet him again."

"Who's Summer?" She asked.

He paused, and looked at her. "Watch Wickerman. It explains everything."

And I flashed back to the present. Amanda dead, her brain in my mouth, and Pighead shaking off the effect of a taser.

Well, fuck. That wasn't good. Wickerman.

* * *

The hidden secret is revealed, and is only of use to people who are real horror movie buffs and British, as it should be.

Obsessed. Manhunt sounds fun. This quest may get manhunty in time anyway.

Frescko. He would probably be very unhappy going there, but it sounds fun. Lots of psychological horror. Hunger games is also an option for later, and 40k is quite broad.

Mistersnx. Thing is certainly an option.

Webzayne. I am generally not a serious person, and the protag is an SI. My natural impulse in times of pain and sorrow, of which I have had a number, is to crack jokes. It makes funerals and such difficult, since I need to shut down that side of myself, but here when people die no one can tell him he's a bad person for doing one liners and jokes. And yeah, robots are super useful and fun to make.

Next time, the fight between John Kramer and Macgyver begins.


	44. Scry and die speedrun

I got up quickly. Pighead was after my head, and he had recovered quickly from the taser. Sprinting off, I shoulder rammed my way through a door.

I knew the path. There could only be one king in Sawverse, and that king would be me. Time to die, John Kramer.

I sprinted up the stairs. Up at the top, a pair of people awaited, with venus fly traps. No doubt more of Kramer's minions. I slammed my body weight into one, knocking him back, and stabbed with my spear at the second, ramming it into their chest. The glass shard broke off, and I ripped it away as they staggered back, bleeding to death.

**You have dazed an opponent! You have slain an opponent!**

As they staggered around, dazed, I darted into a nearby medical room. Amanda had memorized this- ah. In an empty fluids bag next to a bed that smelt of crazy people pissing themselves and pain, was a key. I grabbed it.

The man who I had dazed got up, reaching towards my chest. I picked up a chair from the room, and smashed it into their head. The chair shattered in my hands, cheap old metal and rusted joinings fracturing under my strength and their age. He staggered back and I tossed the remnants at him, and ran past him.

I heard a meaty snap behind me, as his mask triggered.

I had no time for that.

As I pushed the key into a door, I had a quick think about recent revelations. I'd done some sort of magical ritual to gain extra crafting skill? That had been weird, I could spontaneously trigger ritual magic, but not much I could do about it now.

Wickerman. Horror film. A police officer goes to a town, finds they have creepy pagan worship, gets sacrificed to the gods. I wasn't sure exactly what I was meant to take from that. But regardless, my plan stood.

This town wasn't big enough for the both of us. I was gonna unseat Kramer as king.

Sticky lock. I fiddled with it a bit more, and got the door open.

I was more careful now, stealthy now that Pighead wouldn't be immediately sure where I went. I locked the door behind me, and moved more slowly and carefully. I began coiling the electrical wire I had ripped from the TVs and the walls into a rope.

The way the asylum was set up, they had lots of flat roofs. This was a common thing when you were cheaping out on property. Flat roofs were cheaper to maintain, maximized space, let you set up things like gardens on the roof.

This one had a garden that had run wild. Greenland everywhere. It was probably meant to help calm down the inmates and stop them biting the staff. I personally didn't find it that calming. I paced through it, going past overgrown tomatoes and pumpkins that the inmates had probably made months ago.

Kramer had a weakness. He was very good in personal combat, had lots of traps and fancy things and minions and stuff that made him very hard to pin down.

However, he was still just a man, and was not immune to buildings falling on his head.

Once I got to the roof above the library, I started setting up my magical ritual.

Rituals were hard. Maturin had confirmed to me, a lot of worlds were magically dead. They had some rare fonts of magic here and there, but there was no ambient power to draw on. He had confirmed that was true even for John Kramer. Even if he was an archmage of the highest degree, able to throw fireballs around and use a time turner and fly around on a broomstick, without power to use he couldn't do much.

That was where these magical items I had grabbed came in.

**Ritual of tracking. Form a magical connection between yourself and a target of choice. Cost, 1 magic point, and 1 personal link. Range, 100 meters. **

I stuck my fingers down my throat, grabbed the string, and pulled out my holdaway item. Some fancy, colourful, clownish glasses. I put them on, and all the plants around me became clownish and colourful. I took them off.

These let you see clowns everywhere and made the world fun. In time, they would make those clowns real and have them hunt you down. Probably. I didn't really care. They were a magical item.

I took my spear and sliced open my arm. Taking the blood, I formed a pentagram on a small clearing on the roof, and placed the video tape and the glasses between them. I then focused my will on the magic, and spoke the words.

"Servant of the high one, hear my plea.

I offer this undone, search for me."

I heard the clown glasses scream in my head, as whatever demon that possessed them was undone and sacrificed to power my tracking spell. I picked up the video tape.

Some of the magnetic tape was floating out, pointing in a direction. I very carefully and slowly and silently moved through the forest as it guided me to Kramer's location.

Once there, I analysed the situation with Mad Scientist, and found some points where the glass was pretty unstable. This room had been extensively modified. Peaking through, Jigsaw had built some sort of weird altar, which had majorly damaged the structural foundation of the room. He was working to prepare a bunch of TVs, fiddling with the wiring. It looked like they were preparing some sort of grand finale where the truth would be revealed and Tapp would have to make deep emotional choices.

Fuck emotional choices. I had explosives.

I lay the explosive charges out, using twisted bits of garbage paper and wire as a way to get some distance from the explosion. I lay out the explosives carefully, packing them together with stray plant matter to direct the explosive downwards.

I packed the taser and the tracking tape in greenery, so they wouldn't break.

Then, all the jury rigged wires set up, all the explosives places ready whilst Jigsaw stayed busy making the game of a generation, I hid behind a steam chimney, pulled out a small bit of charged tv fragment, and held it close to the wire.

I paused. There was something I should do, but I couldn't remember what…

Gamer's mind was keeping me too focused. I dropped it down.

I felt a sudden flurry of pains, emotions and all sorts of nonsense about how killing was wrong, and shoved it down deep. Only emotion I needed now was anger.

Something came to the fore. Tapp. The detective who had been pursuing John Kramer, and whose body I was in.

Oh yeah. I opened a mental channel.

"It's till to kill him. To kill John Kramer, Jigsaw."

"I know. Who are you?"

"The planeswalker. Macgyver. When we're done with this, find Adam Stanheight." One of the things I had learned last time from the battle with clown was you didn't go into battle with your allies unprepared.

I pulled up gamer's mind again, a welcome relief from the mess of emotions, and set the explosives off. Time to bury John Kramer under a roof.

**20 damage done! Explosive stun effect negated by Gamer's Mind.**

I was slammed back into the earth as the chimney broke apart under the more powerful than usual explosion.

That was… weird. I quickly got up, and looked over.

That explosive was a lot bigger than it, or the physics, dictated it should be. That was again pretty weird, but I didn't have time to worry.

Jigsaw had a bunch of perks to prop him up if he lost all his health. If I was lucky, he would be dead, but he was fast and canny, I couldn't rely on that.

1000HP, after all, meant surviving multiple gun blasts. In his case, it would probably be more about dodging and luck, but it was a lot of extra durability.

I rammed the metal of my spear pipe into a hole in the broken concrete roof, tied the makeshift rope on, and twirled down the rough line of wire tangled together with hope and dreams.

This was a really rough and ready way to get down and in an ideal world I would use a safer moment but this was not an ideal world. And the explosion had lowered the durability of my rope.

**Makeshift rope. 2/4 durability. A twisted and broken abomination forged of ripped out wires and cables. Extremely unstable. **

**You have taken one damage! You have taken one damage!**

My hand was sliced bloody and raw as I went down, the sharp wire slowly bleeding me out. Then, catastrophe. When I was around 10 meters down, one of the knots started to uncoil.

Shit. I could see part of the altar of tvs had survived, poking up, the other buried in glass and broken roof.

I kicked forward, grabbing at it.

**Dex check failed! 15/20.**

The wire snapped before I could reach it. I crashed to the floor, my right leg bone snapping with a wet crack as I smashed badly onto the floor.

**Damage taken! 50 damage. Arterial bleeding debuff (20%) negated by gamer's body. Broken leg debuff (50%) partially negated by gamer's body. 10 HP lost from bleeding per second.**

I pushed through it, quickly putting pressure on the wound. The pipe. It had fallen near me. I ripped my top off and made a quick crutch from it, tugging my leg bone back into place, stemming the blood enough to give my body time to heal. I healed 1HP every 20 seconds, I'd be fine.

I was down to 70 HP, slowly dripping down at one a second by the end, but I wasn't dead yet.

I picked up the tape scryer, and got ready to scry and die. I wouldn't have long before Pighead would be here, and I needed to finish the job and get my 1000 perk points.

I hobbled over to a chunk of rubble notably smaller than the others. There he was. John Kramer. The tape was pulling like mad now, the magical connection to the maker stronger than ever as we got close for our final encounter.

I pulled my backpack out, getting the taser out of it's planty enclosure.

Then, impossibly fast, John Kramer lashed out. A knife rammed into my chest, sending a hot wave of agony through me.

I felt all the pain and agony and weakness that had been building up, the burnt flesh, my bruised mind, the tiredness, rush back in. My powers were gone. I fell back stunned.

Kramer pulled himself out from the rubble, bruised and abused, but still his living pasty ass.

"Macgyver you-"

My body slammed forward and my fist slammed into Kramer like a jack hammer. He was knocked back, dazed.

"You killed my partner! Die you sick fuck."

Detective Tapp. Thank Maturin.

He kept on pounding at him.

"You lost me my job!" His fist smacked into Kramer, uncaring of the damage he was doing to himself as the knife grinded in his chest.

"You made my wife leave me!"

His fist smashed into Kramer with another meaty thud.

"You made me look crazy!" He yelled, as he smashed him again.

I considered letting him do his thing, but I could see that while Kramer was surprised he was rolling with the punches. He was close to rallying.

I pushed my raw human will forward, whispering in his ear as he prepared for another strike.

"Use the taser." He grunted in assent, grabbed it out of the bag, and slammed it into Kramer.

The pulse cooked him. His pasty ass shook and pulsed as the dirty electrics from the broken TVs ran through him. His arms and legs flopped out at all angles as he collapsed, his flesh burnt and charred.

Tapp looked him over, and spat at Kramer's corpse.

"Good riddance."

He then flopped down to his butt, his rage spent.

"I am gonna die here, aren't I? "He said, looking at his broken chest, punctured lung, and generally broken body.

"Pull the knife out. I can heal us." It was hard speaking, with the burning of everything still up, but I managed it. He grabbed it and yanked it out, a spurt of fresh blood coming out.

**You have killed John Kramer. Congratulations. You win. Level up and 1000 perk points. Title gained- The King.**

I felt the pain lighten but not vanish and took in a breath again, feeling the blood in my lungs bubble.

I think I could repair my leg enough to get out, with the extra perk points.

Pighead burst in through a door. He looked pissed. I sighed.

Then he exploded into a mess of thousands of forms. My own body twisted and mutated, and I saw a thousand worlds. I lived as each person in every saw movie, and died in them, I was ripped apart by a thousand traps and ripped apart a thousand others.

But they all broke down in madness and death, because John Kramer was meant to be alive in Saw 2, but I had killed him in the past.

**Temporal paradox detected. Emergency exit.**

I was floating in the void, near a massive Turtle, grander than the world, who looked pissed.

"Hi, Maturin." I said, sheepishly.

* * *

Next Chapter, Saw the normal video game and a Maturin chewing out.

PegasiJake. I do love old horror movies.

Maurz. Harsh.

Mistersnx. Thanks, good to write it.

Bonbonboi666. Why blackout club? Is it good?

Dragon0905. Harsh.

And thanks to Likkoyn for becoming beta.


	45. Crushing power

"I probably shouldn't have killed John Kramer… and Amanda… and broke the timeline. But in my defence, there wasn't really a good warning to me that breaking time was a realistic possibility. I thought that given that I have already massively altered the timeline it would just work out. That time was a timey wimey ball and I would be fine, so yeah. Oops. Sorry. We good?" I asked.

Maturin had scales that rippled with colour. They were even more vibrant now, with his power flushed and grown with the might of Pennywise, who was slowly digesting in his vast maw. His reptilian head, as vast as the world, normally looked grandfatherly and happy. Now, the colours were paused, still, the power to destroy worlds focused on little me.

"You know what you did. Cut the crap." His voice came out, an annoyed tone in his massive voice.

And there I was left in the void, his voice booming around me.

Most people I faced some clever scheme could stop. Even the toughest mortal would die to a harsh trap. If I was tossed into Bleach land and faced people who could wield swords as powerful as skyscrapers, I still had some hope if I could ram enough skyscrapers into them.

This was different. He had some foundation in reality, and damaging the Clownverse would damage him. But as is, summoned before him, I was a very small ant before a titan with the strength to crush me.

"Yes, I may have been aware that breaking time was a bad idea." I sighed and looked down. "It was stupid. I admit that. I am sorry. Why did you send me to that time broken place in the Saw world though?"

Maturin shook his head. "There's one higher than me pushing your strings. I can't control you fully."

I looked around. "The dark tower." The metaphysical construct at the centre of his universe.

"Higher. I know it sucks that all this metaphysical bullshit is coming down on your head, but you need to be wary. Time is like a train of thought. It can keep going even if you throw a lot of stuff in the way but if you cut the lines too hard, it will derail. That's bad for everyone."

"Did that happen with Amanda?"

He nodded.

"Her future nature as undead was retroactively connected to this moment. John Kramer had no such future, so your actions broke the timeline. Imagine time as like a river. Little rocks? It'll flow right over on it's course. Drop a giant boulder in upstream? The river authorities are gonna be mad."

"That makes sense. I'll be more careful not to cause any disruptions."

Maturin nodded, his scales returning to their normal motion.

"That's all I ask."

"Who is this higher one? Are they my old patron?"

He shook his head, stars flying aside as he did.

"Saying their names would only draw their eyes. They are separate. The one who forged your power, the one who pulls your strings, and the one who drives the train. Find them yourself. A mortal like you draws far fewer eyes. And don't rock the boat again for a while, it cost a lot of power to fix this mistake." His voice was calmer now he was issuing orders. It was mine to obey, I guess.

I was a bit disappointed at no lore dump, but I was ok reading. Once I got to a world with more open internet access I would be looking up who the patrons were.

"I'll work it out. I'll make sure I don't break time again."

He looked side to side, a motion strange when each movement of his rainbow reptilian head was vaster than the world. "You can't trust your instincts."

"Why not?" I asked. And the turtle, the size of worlds, looked cagey.

"Trust me. Think everything through."

"Something weird is up, isn't it?" I asked.

He nodded. "You never will have an easy path."

Then, I was back in a dark toilet, in the body of a black man trapped by Kramer on a personal vendetta that he had justified to himself as helping him get over the obsession of chasing Kramer.

I would follow my patron's guide. But this was a weird life I was in.

I was used to being able to trust my emotions. I'd trained them well to be my speedy quick smart response to problems. Something was off with them.

By sequence breaking I had missed out a lot of chances to buff myself, and failed at boosting my strength. So, now it was time to grind. I also needed Detective Tapp to like me, so I could bring him into the fold of my Saw fiefdom.

Genius, which gave me dual mental tracks, was fun. While I worked this all out, I dismantled my face mask, along with the TV, scavenging the scarce parts once more. It wasn't so much that I had two minds at once, like in _Kumo desu ga, Nani ka,_ or Games we Play. It was more that when I multitasked I could give each all my attention at once. My mind felt grander.

As I began to walk through the maze of the asylum, I opened to Tapp.

"I am Macgyver, the planeswalker. We have a shared enemy, the one you know as Jigsaw. Truthfully, John Kramer, cancer patient, turned mad murderer. Fight alongside me and all truth will be revealed."

He strained against my control. I felt my fist clench, and yank away, slamming into the wall.

One of the charged components hit me with a powerful shock. I tensed, holding it, pushing back with magic and will against the impulse to drop the charged TV parts and kill myself. I just managed it.

"Don't lie to me! Who are you." He said. I strained, and took back control. I needed

"I am inside your body. I am a divinely powered being sent to save you from the dangers of this place. I am controlling you because I need to use my technical skills to stay safe. As proof-"

I quickly purchased Air Mastery, Earth Supremacy, Hand of Earth Metal mastery, Fire Mastery, and Water Master, and ascended to become the avatar of Raava. I wish.

The powers didn't give me any fluid control, or any earthquake shattering control. At a massive cost in stamina I could manipulate a small amount of the material a short distance from me. With earth at least, since I had supremacy as well I could control it a bit better.

I took out a handful of earth, and shaped it in front of him. I could feel the dirt shift, like it was a part of me, and I formed it into the shape of a Jigsaw.

"The enemy."

"It's Gordon Lawrence. Kramer is just a cancer patient." He said, confidently. I started to dismantle the TV more, using my powers more. It was easier with them. I could manipulate things with the dirt, tug metal directly.

"No, the evidence was planted- let me show you." I sent him a stream of images from my mind, of Kramer talking to me, trapping me, of Gordon locked in a dirty toilet just like him.

Why had my taser been better at grandmaster? I just didn't get the physics of it. It wasn't any more charged up than any other. No more current or voltage. I hadn't pushed it somewhere different. Why had it done more damage at grandmaster?

I tried to push my memory back, to try and grasp the insight I had gotten then. How could I draw out more power from nothing? Was it some magic thing? Had it been magically boosted to super electricity? Had I tapped into etheric currents of the universe and somehow empowered my taser?

I formed a mental model of the circuit board of the grandmaster quality taser. You crush it, all the electricity goes into them-

Oh. Yeah. That was obvious. It would collapse in such a way to leave the wires jutting out there. Blood was conductive to electricity, meaning it would travel better. It would punch through clothes better.

Using broken glass, metal magic, and earth magic made tools tools, along with small pushes of air, I made it.

**Macgyver's Taser. Mark 2. Durability, 1/1. Damage, 200. A copied model of the grandmaster quality inspired taser, formed of electrical fragments of television. Uses sharp glass and metal to penetrate clothing and skin and hit harder. **

**Crafting formula added to recipe book. **

I felt a rush of knowledge. I could see each component, each permutation, each wire. I knew I could make this device much more easily in the future, and customize it further.

New feature, cool. I felt I could craft this taser much more easily and quickly in the future.

It looked like a paper box, with metal and glass sticking out of it. From the back, a plastic pipe I had ripped out held it away from me, since the charge would happily jump to me if allowed. Ram it into someone, and all the stored charge within would discharge, giving whoever touched it a nasty shock. This one was layered so I could easily upgrade it with further TVs, with racked capacitors.

I wasn't as skilled as a grandmaster, but with something quick and dirty like this, I could bring out as much damage and firepower.

I remade my spear, and found a bag again, and was ready to go.

I made my way onwards, working on dismantling the two masks from the first room and had blessed silence until we were trapped in the bomb room.

He finished his flashbacks. "I have so many questions- you know- you can get justice. We can justice together. We can stop him."

"I swear to you, together we will stop this scheme of his." I went to the bomb.

"You want to play his game?" I asked, as Jigsaw on the TV blared on about how he wanted us to go reach into a toilet filled with HIV covered needles to grab something.

"I won't play his games. Not any more."

I went to the bomb, took some paper, and sliced out all the explosive from the bottom again.

"I wish I had you when we were facing down his traps. Maybe Sing could have lived."

I had a sudden instinct. I walked over to the bars, and purchased a perk.

**Deadlight Acoylte. You are a creature of terror and horror. You have forsaken your humanity to gain a hint of the divine. Terrify others, and guide their fates to death. You can gain a constant bonus of up to ten luck by increasing the terror of others.**

I went to the wired bars that kept me from my companion in the other room. I didn't kill him, this time. I ripped it open again like before, and stepped inside.

The man backed away in fear, waving his hands as I went towards him. I felt the power within me, another shard of power within my soul, one pulsating with the power to terrify. I could dominate this asylum. Pigface ruled for now, but I would make them fear me more. I would slay and torture the mad that Kramer had brought me, and gain the power to crush them with fate.

I slapped the man. "You know what Kramer told you. Tell me his plan." I said, my voice cold and rough.

"He said- his video- not to tell-" I focused again on Tapp, and spoke to both of them. "We can find out the secrets of John Kramer. We can find out his scheme here, in the asylum."

The man below shook. "You're crazy." He tried to get up, and I kicked him down.

"You and me together. This man is in the way. Will you stand with me?"

Detective Tapp took control, and his fist rammed into the man, knocking him down.

"Tell us what you know!" he said. He picked him up, and we lifted him to the explosive, still ticking down. "Or you'll be salsa."

I grinned, as my luck ticked up one.

* * *

Thanks to Likkoyn again for being an awesome beta.

Next chapter, onwards through Saw the Video game.

I'm gonna revise a few old chapters as well, add some more info dumping for people less familiar with it.

Swiftwolfbeta. He was pissed that he broke the timeline and killed Saw whilst they were in saw the video game which is before Saw 2. He also didn't have personal control over where he was sent. Maturin is his patron, but not omnipotent, and he's also busy maintaining the shitty multiverse that is the dark tower that is filled with demons, monsters, vampires, and killer clowns.

Enclave. All has been explained.

Ajin. SCP soon.

AmurderofCrows. The MC has always been arrogant and petty. They didn't need infinite lives to do that. They haven't really worked on dealing with their pettiness yet, since they can just teleport to new worlds and avoid consequences so being petty is fine for them (though their karmic debt to Eveline may be catching up to them soon), but they're working on being less arrogant. That said, the pain resistance is a thing, but they are very worried about death. You saw a bit of it in the previous chapters, where repeated mind control and trauma left them insane and unable to get out of that mental pit. They had several hundred or thousand or something loops where they repeatedly died and were broken. They're extremely worried about that, and when there's a serious prospect of that they wisecrack less.

Guyfives. It's back, and a new chapter soon. Already half written, and my neighbors are being quiet.

Enclave. One day, the stompa will be full sized. His mechas probably will have a very orkish style to them. Lots of scrap metal, lots of rough edges, and more dakka.


	46. Outmatched

Henry coughed up some blood as he walked next to me, rubbing a big bump on his face.

"I am refusing your jurisdiction. You just don't understand me. You're ok with taking on all the labels and names the government gives you. You are stock. You don't understand color of law. When you were born you were registered with the government as stock, with a taxpayer ID. You are a chattel slave to the government, stock used to back up the national debt."

Tapp grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and shook him. He cowered away. "Call me a slave one more time!" He said.

I suspected Henry wouldn't like what happened if he called him a slave.

"No, not again, not the face!"

Henry staggered back, waving his hands protectively.

"Why are you so sensitive over that? Am I being detained!"

As they squabbled, we headed onwards.

He had spilled his guts out after a very short beating. I had a key inside my chest that could free them, and by slicing me open they could get the key. Everyone knew this. And he was a sovereign citizen.

I snared up the whitehurst memo.

"After my father took his life due to mental illness..." That wasn't good… "This asylum will be the forerunner of medical treatments, traditional and experimental."

Ah. Psychiatry. It had a pretty dark history. Eugenics, lobotomies, and lots of patient abuse. Mentally ill people didn't vote much, so there were no restrictions to abuse and cruelty towards them in the name of advancing whatever whimsical pseudoscientific theory the owner held.

I ran my eyes over the cracked yellow tiles of the next room. The door had an electronic lock on it that would go off when an electrical signal went off. I hastily disarmed it, so that it wouldn't-

I felt my knee crack, as a foot stamped into it.

**Critical hit! 50 damage done. Leg failure. 50% reduced physical stats. Reduced partially by gamer's body.**

**Wisdom check failed. 15/20.**

I was slammed to the floor, my knee broken under the powerful kick. I tasted old asylum.

As I lay there dazed, an arm swept up under me, dragging me into the room.

"This is very personal. And it's my game. Die, T-" I rammed my elbow into his chest, knocking him back. He staggered back a few steps as I righted myself. With gamer's body propping me up and gamer's mind shielding me from pain, this was just like walking through a very bad stitch. The bone would hold together for now.

I swayed to my feet. How had I not seen this? Why had I used that perk, and then trusted some random stranger? Why had I trusted the results of torture?

All those thoughts were washed out of my mind as a second man burst through a door. Bald, mean looking, and angry. He charged forward.

"I have to do this!" He shouted, as his fist fired at me. I moved to dodge.

I was black belt in Judo, and an experienced and ranked fencer in the UK. I generally felt that I was someone who could hold their own. I was stronger, faster, and more durable than I had ever been, and I was flaring my chakra so I was at greater than full strength, despite the debuffs.

Which is why I didn't expect the sharp fist to my face.

I staggered back a few paces, and felt another sharp jab to my ribs.

**Double tap! 4 damage done. Martial arts contest begun. You are outmatched by 53 levels. **

I stepped back, annoyed. He was doing negligible damage. I slipped my leg back, taking a solid pose towards him, and stared him in his evil blue eyes. He stared back, and charged me. I reacted quickly, going to grab his arm and use my superior strength to overpower him.

He stepped aside, flowing with my motion, and rammed his fist into my side.

**2 damage done! Duelist levels up!**

"Are you really cherry tapping me?"

I charged, trying to shoulder slam him to the ground, growling. I was fast enough that I managed to pin him, slamming him against the wall. He tried to push his way out, but I was much stronger.

**5 damage done!**

Then Henry slammed at my leg with a pipe. I took a hard hit, my leg burning with pain, and twisted aside.

"I thought we were bonding! Cop to sovereign citizen." I said, stepping back. This fight wasn't going quite how I had expected.

Henry held the metal pipe forward. "I know you're not a cop. You're a slave just like me. Owned by the corporations. Fired. I just said that to distract you. You fell into my trap!"

"I don't hate you. But I will beat you." Said Baldie.

I glanced around the room. Baldie the martial arts expert was advancing, while Henry stepped forward tapping the floor with each movement. There was a bin, right of the door I had come in, a red room where Baldie had come from, and an open door to another room with a door past it and a jigsaw TV. There was a big surgical door as well. My taser and spear were nowhere to be seen. Presumably outside, taken when I got sucker punched. I was heading to Baldie's room. I got up quickly, and grabbed the bin. Stepping to the side, I swung it at Henry, knocking the pipe out of his hand with a massive metal clang.

As I did Baldie charged in and grabbed my arms, yanking me away to the wall with his momentum. Henry stepped in and slammed his fist into my gut.

**5 damage done! 98 HP left.**

I had really overestimated my fighting skills. I didn't expect to go below 100 for this.

Henry came in, for a solid hit against my face. I stepped back, grabbed the pipe to yank it away, and Baldie came in to smash a fist into my arm, forcing me to let go. I dodged away. I needed a game changer. This wasn't working.

I pulled out my earth, held in my hand, and swept it side to side, using my will to force it towards their eyes. Both quickly covered their faces with their eyes, but it was enough of a distraction for me to sprint between them without taking an attack of opportunity towards the new door. I grabbed the TV as I came in, tossing it backwards at Baldie. He held his arms up, but was knocked back a few steps.

**7 damage done! Duellist levels up. **

I needed an advantage. I'd do poorly if I had to face both of them, especially with my weak leg. I looked around, sniffed.

I had more luck. I burnt my hint of fate, for an option.

**Beyond the door lies a familiar fate.** **Master them all, and then come talk to me.**

The voice was passionate and feminine.

Well, it was Jigsaw's asylum. Probably a trap. I leaned against the door, listening out carefully behind me, trying to look weak.

"I'm gonna escape, and you're gonna die an unfreeman!"

Henry'd gone for an ambush once.

I heard the scuff of a foot as Henry came forward. I stepped aside and slammed him through the door.

Above it, a mechanism clicked down, and a gun blasted a hole in his head. A magnum door trap! Open the door, you get shot. His brains spilled out and blood covered the floor as the acrid smell of burnt plastic and the iron filled tang of blood filled the air.

**10 exp awarded! Henry slain.**

I grabbed the pipe, quickly rubbing off the grey matter and blood and twisted to hit Baldie hard. He tried to block with an upraised arm, but with my strength, his arm snapped like a twig.

**24 damage done! Arm broken, 20% reduction in physical stats. Strength of the insane perk activated. 20 damage negated, reduction negated.**

"I bet this isn't even your final form." He didn't answer.

I charged forward, going for another hit. He ducked back, pulling off his shirt, and snared the pipe in it. I shoulder'd my way past him as he yanked the weapon away, and dashed back to the door I had come from.

**Duelist levels up! Duelist levels up! Duelist levels up!**

Diving to the floor, I swept up my taser and spear and stepped up. I was almost out of stamina. No more chakra for me. My leg still burnt. Breathing hard, I looked back at the door.

Baldie was coming through, ready to one punch me with his pipe. I looked him in the eyes. I needed another edge.

He didn't give me time to think. He came forward with the pipe, and I lunged at him with the spear. He batted it aside and rammed an elbow into my jaw. I tanked it, trying to reach him with the taser, but he twisted aside, shoulder shoving me away. I felt the pipe hit my shoulder painfully.

**22 damage done! Critical hit! Duelist levels up! Duelist levels up! Duelist levels up!**

I triggered clear thinking. I needed to think. My mind sharpened, everything slowed, and I did a quick accounting.

I had the element gifts, but no real control outside of earth, and I had expended my pocket earth hand. I was pretty sure I couldn't flare fire and burn him. I could burst strength him, but he'd been very good at deflecting me.

Wait, a burst- I had an idea.

I pulled out the lighter. I flicked it open, and tossed it at Baldie. He started to step aside. Slashing forward with the spear, I ripped it open, spewing gas everywhere, closing my eyes. It exploded, sending fragments of plastic and fire everywhere, bright enough to burn the vision of someone unprepared.

**10 damage done to you and him! Blindness debuff given to Baldie. 50% reduction in physical stats.**

Pushing past the painful fragments, I gripped the spear tightly, and rammed it into his gut. His skin did not prove unbreakable, and he coughed up blood as I slammed him into the wall.

I rammed my fist towards his face, but somehow, he managed to dodge aside, my fist cracking into the tiles. He slammed his head forward, knocking me back a step. Quickly, I stabbed him with the taser, sending jolts of electricity into him. He shook and twisted, and finally, died for me.

**You have gained 20 exp! Duelist levels up! Duelist levels up!**

I flopped to the floor. I was not good at combat. I hadn't even leveled up. I'd gained 50 exp versus scrubs.

"My legs are broken. Can you make a splint? We need to get after Jigsaw." said Tapp.

I waved my hands. "It's fine. I got magic healing. We'll be up to 100% in an hour. I need to grind con more."

I wiped the sweat off my face. That was too close. What had happened?

I was well prepared for traps, puzzles and schemes. I was used to facing overwhelming odds. I guess I had never really had that many fist fights. Yes as Mia, I guess, but I had super skills backing me up then. And super strength. I was pretty sure my skill was less effective than I expected. Maybe duelist was single target? Or I just wasn't used to it. I dunno. Regardless, I needed to grind up duelist to a much higher level.

I yanked out several bits of plastic from my skin, slowly repairing my flesh. I pulled my knee into alignment, as the bone fused. I didn't wait for a full heal. I had a feeling I needed momentum, to keep moving forward.

After a little while, he spoke in my head again.

"You're pretty green in fighting."

"I'm a black belt" I said, with a huff.

"Exactly. From some mcdojo that promised you enlightenment and you being a total badass?"

I grinned. "Enlightenment was extra, thank you very much. Fine. That fight didn't go well. What did I do wrong?"

"You tried to focus on a single foe each time." I was a duelist. I guess my skill didn't handle fighting two at once? "And didn't keep an eye out for the others. You telegraphed your moves a lot as well. A quick hard strike is much more useful than some fancy hit."

"Look at you, knowing kung fu." I twisted our ankle. Much less pain.

"I kept the streets safe for three decades. I know how to handle myself. And with your strength, I'll handle John Kramer as well."

"You can handle the next fight. I'll try and learn from you."

There was something else… oh well. Probably not important.

* * *

Definitely not important at all. And not weird at all that he would forget.

I died to Baldie because the combat system is clunky and weird to use. He may be slightly tougher than in the game.

Pokelover12. Lol yes. There's something odd going on, as Maturin said, but he was also not taking him that seriously. He could have done more to preserve the knowledge, and probably should have.

Guyfives. The adventure goes on.

Kleary93. Thanks, it does.

Guest. Later, and, he doesn't really have any way to interact with that god, so, will be later. He lacks a divine hotline.

Next time, time to grind and follow his intuition. Thanks again to Likkoyn, my beta.


	47. Grinding

My power had solidified as I grew. I could see my skills, my perks, my stats, all around me. A host of rotating islands made of metal and gears and blood floating like a solar system around the central hubs of my statistics. At the core of it all, something unknowable. Fog and smoke covered it, with just brief glances of stone and glass. A mindscape and mind palace I had definitely not chosen.

Power thrummed into me from that core, rich and vibrant. The clockwork and metal gears groaned and turned as the power rushed into them, with tendrils of power reaching out into the physical world. At the moment I was focused around a cluster of islands, of my intellect. My stats, my perks, my inventions, even aspects of my gamer's mind.

Computers and brains and calculating machines twisted together, sharing ideas and will. Focusing on it, I could feel rushes of memories of my fingers burning as I experimented with mixing chemicals together, of my mind burnt and drained as I sought new secrets of science. There was a glow to them, a fire that I hadn't seen before. I had my first recipe and knowledge of grandmaster level construction of traps. In time I would be able to build new creations beyond even this.

Gamer's mind and body were my tools, my scalpels, to bend and twist the structure of my power. My time fighting off the insidious influence of Pennywise had granted me a sophistication I probably wasn't mean to have, my will reaching places beyond where gamer's mind was meant to go.

I pressed the off switch. I was back to Tapp's baseline intellect. I checked on my status screen.

**5.** Just as I liked it. It wasn't that Tapp was stupid. He remembered things, he was coherent. But puzzle solving? Not his thing. There was a buzzing in the status conditions screen that I closed. No time for that. I had a puzzle to solve. A puzzle to solve with pure con. I was pushing for 10 con so I could start getting even better buffs and merge poison and disease stuff. I had gotten two before for solving puzzles, and had two stat points from levelling up. This would put me to… 3 plus 4… oh well. Whatever that was. There's a reason Tapp had never caught Jigsaw.

"I'm doing some routine maintenance on stuff. It's up to you to solve this puzzle, Tapp."

"I won't let you down."

I was in the centre of the amphitheatre, white surgical plastic hanging down around in a square around the operating table. It lifted up as I approached, and I saw her. Amanda. Jigsaw's apprentice. A killer without remorse desperate to please her master. Strapped to a chair for a puzzle for me.

She shook, struggling weakly against the metal cuffs around her wrist, some blood dripping down onto her jeans. Her brown hair was messed and sweaty, and she did not look her best.

"I can't breathe! Get me out of this thing!" She said.

And on the TV screen in front of her, that adorable little puppet of Jigsaw appeared. "Hello Amanda, I want to play a game."

I had earned a con point. There was some puzzle about reaching into corpses. There was a guide, xrays, but I had pushed through it by ignoring those and endured. I had solved that puzzle for a con point. If you solved the puzzles in the right way, you got the stat point.

I sat down in the chair.

"Now the needle will save your life." Said Jigsaw.

Amanda stopped struggling, looking at me. "He didn't say to sit there yet."

"It's probably coming. Why wait?" She looked surprised that I was so eager to be trapped.

"Each of you will be injected with different poisons that will slowly break down your bodies. The device in front of you contains the antidote to each of the poisons."

It was basically a rectangular box. Next to Amanda was a red button and a heart monitor, next to me was a blue button and a heart monitor. Below it was a diamond shape with twisty valves that would let the liquid flow one way or the other, and tubes to inject the cures.

**Poison torture machine. Grandmaster quality. A device made by saw to teach Amanda and Tapp the value of their own lives and intellect. 20 HP, 20 armor.**

"The red vials go to the left, and the blue vials to the right. Be careful, incorrectly mixing the antidote will cause some discomfort."

I had done something else in my time away. I had taken every syringe I could find, every dirty disease covered item, and stabbed myself. I had caught every disease I could find, and revelled in it as I purged the plagues from my body with **Disease Purge **

I had drunk deep of every random old chemical I could find, drinking battery acid, old toxic chemicals, and everything poisonous I could find. I had pushed my body to the breaking point.

All together I had gained a lot of levels, and had bought a perk, P**oisoned Assassin,** to bring my poison resistance to the next level. I was gonna make my Poison and Disease islands much bigger together and one super skill.

And I sat there and let Tapp do his thing.

He pressed a button, and poison dripped into my veins.

**You are being poisoned! You will die in 32 hours. Poisoned assassin levels up!**

"Only the best and the brightest into the police academy!" I said.

"Screw you. I got this."

Next time, some poison dripped into Amanda. She lacked poison resistance, and screamed as the acid like poison dripped into her.

"Watch it! You have to follow how the machine rotates! Just play the game!"

"No, Tapp. Don't play his game. You learn at your own pace. I'll keep you safe." And I would.

"I'm getting it, I'm getting it. I almost have it." He dripped some more poison into my veins.

**You are being poisoned! You will die in 23 hours. Poisoned assassin levels up! Poisoned assassin levels up!**

Sweet, sweet levels.

"This is why you never caught Jigsaw."

"Cop work isn't about rapidly coming to a conclusion, it's about doing a lot of hard work."

"Like, realizing that every single Jigsaw victim was from the Homeward Bound Recovery Clinic where Jigsaw's wife worked or tried to off themselves or from the Angel of Mercy Hospital where Jigsaw was a patient, and had a sketch of one of the traps on full display? Kramey boy is not a subtle man."

"You forgot Amanda was an enemy, even when she was in front of you." He said, not losing his cool at all.

Oh yeah, Saw 2, nerve gas party. Why had I sent him that memory?

He spoke out loud. "I've got this." And dripped some more poison into Amanda. She screamed. "No more! It's not that hard a puzzle."

"I've got this. I'm almost there." He said.

I took control, and activated another perk I had. I still had some of the zombie plague, and I remembered what Maturin had said about zombies and time loops.

Wait. Intuition. I remembered now. Yeah. I shouldn't follow intuition.

I needed to remember. I took a screw from my bag, and scratched an I in blood on my hand.

"What are you doing?" Tapp said.

"Giving you tetanus." He glared at me.

I spoke more honestly. "I needed to remember something. Wizard stuff. Lean over to Amanda?

He did so, and I scratched her with one of my nails and triggered my perk.

"You fucker!" She screamed, as the plague filled her. I looked at the machine. It was her turn. I added poison.

Amanda died, screaming and cursing my name. Then, a minute later, she lived again, as the zombie virus from resident evil revived her. She drew in a deep breath. "I'm- alive."

"Not for long."

Amanda died and lived again and again, as the poison dripped through us. It was like hot fire burning away inside me. My gamer's body fought against it, healing me and replacing damaged cells and tissues with stronger, more poison resistant ones. My immune system pulsed with strength, little soldiers fighting a war to stop the plague. My liver burnt like fire, clearing away the poison as more and more flowed into us from the machine.

Tapp never did figure out how the puzzle worked, but half an hour later, he completed it. The machine ran out of poisons and antidotes. Then we sat there, Amanda living and dying again and again as the poison burnt through her and the plague revived her, screaming madly and and shouting out for vengeance.

I survived. My poison resistance ticked up and up, the level rising as my health and stamina started to drip. Sadly, my skills didn't merge yet, but it was close.

**Poison assassin, uncommon apprentice grade, Level 95 12/100 exp. **

**Disease control, rare advanced apprentice grade, level 32 90/100 exp **

If I could merge them like I had other skills I could get all the benefits of my zombie super powers with poison, which meant I would be able to avoid nerve gas party scenarios. But I wasn't quite there yet. I needed them to both be the same grade for one.

**You have completed the poison torture machine! By exhausting the reserves of poison within and enduring the terrible pain you have proven yourself a very tough foe to face. Level up, and +1 perk point, along with +1 luck for being such a terrible monster!**

Level 14, woo. I was moving up in the world. 9 con as well, I was almost at 10 where I got extra special bonuses.

"First time, Tapp. You did great."

He stretched, feeling his poison free limbs.

"I know you're mocking me, but I got what you wanted, didn't I? You're like a chimera. Any poison in you is just sucked up to make you stronger. And make me stronger."

"I checked with some of the others. Gordon, Adam. From that first trap. You get to keep some, but not all of the skills I show off. You're gonna be a lot stronger by the end of this."

He got up, yanking the needles from his neck.

"Good. What did you do to her?" He slapped her face several times. She didn't respond.

I shrugged. "She'll be fine. Yolo." I switched on my int again and I got to looking at the machine.

My recipe book was very discriminating. It only accepted grandmaster quality work. It had my taser in it, along with the Reverse Bear trap I'd been wearing coming in.

**Reverse Bear trap. Durability, 10/10, armor 10/10. Damage, 1000. A trap designed by Jigsaw to rip apart a person's face if they fail to solve a puzzle in time. Inspired by Jill Tuck's love of plants. **

I could solve them much more quickly with them in there, or build them. It was a cool new feature. If I could just figure this out…

**New recipe found. Detox Machine. Durability 3/3, armor 2/2. Injects a poison or an antidote into a person based off how well they solve or fail a problem.**

Got it.

I looked over at Amanda. Her face looked pale and damaged. She opened her eyes.

"I'll kill you! Kill you. Kill yuh." And the poison killed her again.

I had levelled up first aid over 10 while dealing with my broken legs. I had generally been relying on magical healing or death to cure me which was a bit silly. I should learn more first aid. Anyway, I had a few more perks now I am common apprentice grade.

I purchased one of the perks. 6 points.

**Poison encyclopedia. You have an advanced knowledge of poisons, and can recognize the symptoms of them.**

I glanced over Amanda, pressing my hand to her neck.

Maybe half an hour more before she drove the poison out at this rate? Eh, I felt I could probably just leave her it'd-

The scar on my hand burnt.

Yes. Intuition. Plan things out. Why wasn't I able to remember that? I could feel the concept slipping from my mind even now.

I needed to protect the timeline.

Couldn't leave her here to mess up the timeline. Logical plan, take her with me, I can clear the plague later and leave her somewhere. She's much too weak to hurt me right now, I could tell that from my plague and first aid knowledge. I could use her as a weapon against Pighead.

I grabbed her under her armpits and heaved her up.

"Are you trusting her again?" Tapp asked, annoyed.

I shook my head.

"I zombiefied her so that we could pass the trials. I need to clear her, and I need her not to die for magic reasons. Plus, she's bait for the other apprentices."

"Who is that… pighead? You said it was Amanda before that took Adam?"

"I dunno. Someone. White, tall, muscular, good with electronics."

"I wouldn't know. I'm terrible with them. I always had to rely on a partner, or my wife… I misss her... I always prefer to work with something you can feel. Pound of the streets, mechanical things. Oh and- magical reasons?" He said, disdainfully.

"I promised a magic turtle."

"Oh." He was silent after that.

We passed under a red light as we headed onwards. Through a door and- my spidey senses tingled. There was a little double medical tray in front of me. I felt in there and- yes. Heavy dose stimulants in a needle. I jammed it into Amanda's neck, injecting the drugs into her. Helpful video game healing.

Amanda woke up. "Play by the rules...don't… doors..."

"Yes Amanda. Following the rules is always good."

She martial'd up some strength and glared at me.

"I survived one test. Now I'm stuck in here with you, a fucking cop." She spat at my feet. Ew. Spit. Zombie plague. I wiped it off with Henry's other shoe.

"Show some dignity." I said.

She looked up at me. "You couldn't even solve the puzzle." I waved my hand.

"I got us out alive, didn't I? Maybe my will to live is just stronger than yours."

She looked scornful, as I headed down the stairs.

"You need to listen. Jigsaw is in charge here. You can't just blunder through and rely on your toughness to survive everything."

"If you have enough hit points, your body is the lockpick. I learned that in D&D."

Tapp glared at me.

"You play that satanic game?"

I grinned. "How do you think I became a wizard?"

We kept heading on down the stairs, when I started to smell the rot of flesh. I headed onwards and then-

I glanced to the side. Corpse. Ugh. There was a metal trap on him. Looks like it rammed spikes into his eyes and spine on a timer? Not sure what was up with that. How were they meant to find me and kill me when blinded? Wasn't pinging on my recipe sense. Ew. Lotta blood. He smelt terrible. Poor guy.

"Jigsaw is one evil bastard."

"Don't think like that." Said Amanda, coughing up blood. "He's… a teacher. He helps you learn."

I poked the corpse with my foot, feeling for a wallet or identification I found it. "Doesn't look like he's learning anything new."

"Some of us are too weak. You need to be stronger. Focus on surviving. Do anything for that."

I pulled out his wallet. "Cassian Smith. I'll remember your name." I could zombie revive him, but I was reluctant about causing a zombie apocalypse. I couldn't control the fungi zombies on my own, and I was on Eve's shitlist for lying to her about Mia.

I dunno if it would work anyway. His brain had been vaporized by it.

"Fuck Jigsaw, and fuck his rules."

I got to the bottom and- more TVs. I already had a decent collection, but I tossed Amanda down to the floor and got to scavenging them for more taser parts. I was feeling pissed off. She hurt? Good. She'd arranged this.

She grunted, and flopped on the floor. "What are you doing?"

"It aint about being strong. It's about being prepared. Jigsaw thinks he's in control here? He thinks he controls this asylum. This asylum is gonna be mine."

"You're gonna get us both killed. Look, there's an audiotape. Listen."

"I've heard enough of your ramblings about his game. I don't want to follow his rules." I said, my voice sharp.

Tapp spoke. "We should listen. That's how you be a good detective. You follow all the clues."

"Jigsaw is just manipulating you, you know that? He wants you to stop following him and embrace life because he's a narcissistic arsehole who obsesses over people who stop him and he's gonna teach you a lesson about how following him is bad. He's a killer, don't forget that."

"Show me." He said, patiently.

I sighed. "Fine." I clicked play.

"Detective, your obsession with me has destroyed your own life and driven you here, like a rat escaping the heat of the sun."

I mentally glared at Tapp. 'See?' My mental glare would say.

"I think you know someone down here" The tape continued. "Your old friend from the force, Jennings Foster. You might want to ask him what really happened in that hit and run case you two worked on. That is, if he is alive by the time you find him. Can you forgive one who has forsaken justice to protect himself? I suggest you hurry, Detective."

"What did he do?"

"He killed a man and blamed it on someone else."

"We'll get him." I played with the tape recorder. "We can record his confession. Don't worry. He's going down." Cause I needed that stat point from saving him.

"I-" I paused. I heard something.

**Wisdom check succeeded. 15/12. **

Scuff of a foot. I was being chased. And it sounded like the step of Pighead. He had a very heavy step.

But why?

I headed onwards. There was another TV set, these ones behind bars sadly. Jennings confessed to the hit and run. Old news. Jigsaw captured assholes being assholes.

Pighead was tough. Monstrously tough. I wasn't sure I had enough taser power yet to one hit him.

He was fast, strong. He could ambush me well, if I didn't get the drop on him.

What else… oh yeah. There were a lot more electronics here. That wasn't Jigsaw's style. He used mechanical traps mostly. That meant, probably, that they were an electronics expert.

So they'd try to trap me with electronics?

I paced on, keeping my eyes open for a trap. I needed them distracted…

"Jigsaw claims to want to make people struggle for life. But Jennings can't struggle. He's dependent on me."

She was on an upswing. The poison was starting to deplete itself against her zombie vitality. She spoke, a bit more fiercely.

"Some people don't deserve a chance to live."

"What about you? Do you not deserve a chance."

She looked down, looking sad.

"I failed him again. I went back to being a drug addict. I deserve this. I had my chance."

"Did your dealer get a chance? He didn't have a first try."

"He had it coming. He and every other bit of scum in the city should burn." She said, fire in her voice.

"Touched a nerve there." There. A door, wired to shut. Camera, watching. Perfect ambush spot for him. I could bomb him. Risky in this confined space…

Could I use Amanda as a trap? He was probably coming for her, since they were both Jigsaw apprentices. I guess I could bomb her. She'd survive. I needed an edge. I needed-

**Party member has entered the group chat.**

"Woof? Woof Woof woof woof woof." Said Cure.

"Cure! You're here. But where are you?" I pinged his location.

On the opposite side. I tapped into his video feed, and saw his happy little red tongue wagging, a dark creepy asylum, and pighead hiding behind a wall in a corridor I had just passed.

It was time for an ambush.

* * *

Next time, Pighead v2 vs Macgyver round 2.

Thanks again to my beta, Likkoyn

Guyfives. He does dodge. And thanks, yeah, I have tried to make it pretty different to the standard story.

I am a bot. He does have free will. He has restrictive circumstances.

Hahp. And doggo will return in force next chapter.


End file.
